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I woke up the other day and was just out of sorts.  You know, one of those days when you got up on the wrong side of the bed! My usual stretching and listening to something spiritually invigorating wasn’t making me feel better, so I went outside.

The day before, I’d hired our regular cleaning folks to do some extra work, which involved cleaning some deck furniture and covers with bleach.  I’d looked at their completed tasks, and they’d done a good job.  But when I walked outside the next morning, I discovered they’d splashed bleach on the front door, discoloring the paint at the bottom.  I showed Tom what happened and I actually started crying!

Yeah, I was frustrated, and even in the midst of the frustration, I knew the intensity of my reaction was over the top!

What’s going on?  As a life coach, I’m pretty self-aware and I couldn’t figure out why I was so upset!  Until …

We were just on vacation in Cape Cod … an area of the country that’s been on my bucket list to see. Two full weeks. Ocean front. Made the reservations a year ago and been looking forward to it. Sounds glorious, doesn’t it?

Except for one thing. The crabby girl who was livin’ in my head when we first got there wasn’t appreciating the glory.

I have to come clean.

In this month’s Business Insights newsletter we sent out a couple of weeks ago, I highlight three changes I’d made in my life that’d made a big difference in feeling less overwhelmed, more on top of things, and generally freer.

I’d decided to simply my life by taking on less.

I created some new boundaries to protect me from the overachiever, Type A, driven me.

And I gave myself more self-care time.

I was pretty proud of myself for making them. And everything was going great.

Well guess what?

What are you saying in response to what you’re getting out of life? Thank you … or … That’s not quite good enough?

“Have a good day.”

How many times has someone said that to you?

Often, it’s just a perfunctory farewell from a cashier. Other times, it’s a genuine well-wish.

Most of the time, the person is simply saying, “I hope you have a good day.” But you can interpret the message another way … as an admonition.

We all have only so much time on this earth. Make the most of your day.

Good advice.

But what does that mean … and, more specifically, what does it mean to you?

Best TED Talk … says who?

Well, I do. Oh, and the thing’s gotten over 15,300,000 views.

But there are a lot of great TED Talks out there. We use a couple in our trainings. What makes this one so special is it just happens to offer up the secret to being happy … even when … especially when … circumstances don’t align with your desires and you’ve lost the freedom to choose.

It’s always and forever a matter of perspective.

That’s not a new message from us, and it’s probably not news to you. But something I saw recently really brought the message home to me in an emotional way.

Many of you probably saw it too.

I loved my mother.

She was my Mom and no matter what, we’re hard-wired to love our parents … our mothers especially.

My Mother was a very difficult person to be with. Very negative … some would describe her as cantankerous at best.  She was also very much a victim of her life … a martyr … a victim of her circumstances.  You know the type.  Just being in their presence can negatively impact your energy.

And the not so pretty truth is that my Mother taught me how to be a victim.  I was quite good at it, especially after being widowed twice.

“Grandma … Mommy and Daddy and me are going to the beach for Christmas!”

That’s my 5 year old granddaughter, speaking to me on the phone last year. She was pretty excited.

Me … not so much.

This was the first I’d heard of it.

I don’t watch the news.

I know a lot of people feel as if they need to stay informed. That’s fine, but I prefer to take a different approach.