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Did you know that STRESSED is just DESSERTS spelled backwards?

I took some time on the weekend to de-clutter and organize my office.  Such a luxury – the messy build up was starting to add to my general feeling of stress and frenzy.  It was ironic that I stumbled across an envelope with leftover handouts about stress management from a team meeting I lead about 4 years ago.

Leafing through the material brought back a lot of memories.  The team was facing yet another year of increased work and the specter of significantly reduced funding, again.  They had come together for two days to consider how to shift their work to be ready to meet the challenge.  It was a stressful meeting at the end of a stressful year focused on figuring out how to manage another one ahead.

In the afternoon of the second day, we let it all go and spent time laughing through a video presentation by Loretta Laroche a renown humorist, motivational speaker and stress expert.  We ate popcorn and reflected on how to lighten the load and personally deal with the challenges to come.

While a lot of the advice is so simple, it is so easy to forget in the swirl of everyday. It made me smile all over again so I thought I would share some of it with you:

Loretta’s Eight Steps to EnLIGHTenment:

  1. Lighten Up.  Find humor in everyday situations (especially in yourself)
  2. Light the Way.  Smile at Yourself and Other.  Be fully present.
  3. Step Lightly.  Twirl, Stand on One Leg, Walk Backwards!
  4. Discover your Inner Light.  Mediate, Pray, Count Your Blessings!  Find the Bless in the Mess.
  5. Delight Yourself.  Pleasure Yourself with Food, Art, Nature and Music.
  6. Lighten Your Load.  Give up doing everything.  Call in WELL!
  7. Speak Lightly.  Go beyond Okay, Fine, Not Bad, Yell – Whoopee! Weeh! TaDah!
  8. Become a Beacon of Light.  Be a compassionate witness to your behaviour and to other Humans.  Become your own Hero.  Lead your Life with Grace, Glory, Merriment and Mirth.

I checked in with the meeting sponsor a week or so after the meeting – she reported that she had caught sight of someone doing a little twirl as they walked down the hall.