This is not the post I planned; or Dealing with Obstacles to Lighten Up

As most of you know, I have a number of exciting things going in in the Lighten Up world. But the fact of the matter is that they are happening in bits and pieces. And, quite frankly, some of them could be a lot further along. So what happened?

I hit a few obstacles that have really slowed me down. For those of you that don't speak to me regularly, you should know that there are some areas of my life that are quite stressful at the moment. I define stress as the feeling that occurs when there is a difference between expectations and reality, so that can cover a lot of territory. Last week included some really STELLAR examples of serious differences between expectations and reality. It wasn't just me - other people were thrown for a loop as well - but I was surprised at how much it affected me.

But then I realized that it all had to do with the way that the Lighten Up process is changing my expectations. You see, I printed out some pictures over the last few weeks about what I want my Lighten Up life to be like. They probably won't make sense to you, but here is a picture so that you can get the idea. Most of this has been accumulated over the last several weeks. They include pictures of places I love, or that remind me of a good time in my life, or just that represent an idea to me. But I want to draw your attention to my latest addition.

I know, I know. This can't be an idea that goes with my goal! After all, shouldn't Lighten Up mean not taking things so seriously? Rolling with it more? But that doesn't really work for me. "It is what it is" means that I don't like it but I'm not going to fix it. It means that I've made myself numb. It means complacency in the face of negative events. And that is an idea that I really want to say NO to!

So, I'm more engaged in dealing with the everyday stresses in my life. The bad news is that I feel them now in a way that I haven't for a very long time. But the good news is that I am now doing something about them. And, as you all know, doing things is what I like to do. (And now the jingle for this commercial is stuck in your head, too! Yes!)