Friday, July 14, 2006

All Worked Up

STRESS! It's summertime and everyone wants to be outside playing, not inside working. I've been hearing a lot of my clients, friends and family talk about how stressed they are. Everything is piling up right about the time we want some freedom. Is it more work or is it the hunger to get out of the office, away from the kids and out into the sunshine?

I think we each want to experience new things in the summer, too. We say yes more, we sign up for more, we ask more of ourselves and we take more chances. All of these cause stress because our time is then limited. Use your judgement before you say yes to everything regarding the amount of stress it will cause you in the long run.

I've talked about abundance before and I think it's important to bring it up again here. Having an abundance of time and energy in the summer is the best gift you can give yourself. Try to plan your PTO days so you have a few extra during the summer months, work hard to wrap up your projects in a timely manner instead of sitting on them. Stop daydreaming and get to work! Take some time in the middle of the day to step outside and take a quick walk around the building or make a phone call. The sun will warm you right up and give you a bit more energy to make it through the rest of the day.

When you are able to go outside and do what you love to do, don't take it for granted. Relish the moment. Take an active role in the perfection of those few precious hours that you are carefree. Drink them up, remember them. So often the time passes us by before we know it and we don't feel like we really took account of how special it was.

When you are super stressed, find something to represent how centered you can be. Use it to bring yourself back to the fact that your stress level in temporary and if you remain calm, everything will find a way of completing itself. This can be a small stretch in the middle of the day, a mantra or a touch stone.

Enjoy the summer days and make some time to kick back, relax and enjoy!
Coach Katie