I hate stress

This past week, stress has been my enemy. Stress is harmful for my well-being.  I admit, I have a chaotic life; I work very hard at my 8:30 – 4:30 career, our organization is at a critical stage with major deliverables and deadlines, and the stress I experience has resulted in a doctor-ordered two-week break.  As I was getting ready for work this morning, it was not the usual, Monday morning blues I usually experience after a nice weekend with Michael.  It was a panic, fear and anxiety-ridden morning with tears and an internal pain in my stomach. Those feelings have been surfacing a lot more these days, and I knew if I made it into the office; I may have had complete meltdown in front of my colleagues and boss, which would have been humiliating.  So now I am at home making a plan to rebalance, recharge and revaluate my well-being goals.  I am not a religious person per se, but I often think about this prayer or mantra that my Grandma had hanging on her wall back home in Norway House. It goes like this...

God, grant me the
Serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change ~
COURAGE
to change the
things I can;
and
WISDOM
to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.
Taking this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy forever in
the next.

By Reinhold Neibuhr

Although I do not subscribe to the Christian faith, this prayer reminds me of a time when life was easier, it reminds me that I am only one person and I cannot hold the weight of the world on my shoulders. 

Pisew Falls - Near Thompson Manitoba. Within Pimicikamak time-honoured territory.