This is your reminder to recharge your mind and fill it with postivite input.

You know those days where you're just stressed and random things just make you angry. You lose your perspective and things feel overwhelming and you think about what's in the fridge that might make you feel better. Well here is another way to look at things.

So I was traveling the last couple of days for work, and had one of the guys from IT with me. I asked him how he seemed to stay so cool at the office under stress. He told me he used to be in the military and that he served in Iraq. I didn't know that about him. Now his mental check under stress at the office is a reminder that no one is shooting at him while he tries to do his job. So in the end it's all about your perspective.

Think about all the small steps you are taking in the right direction and focus on those. Too many times we focus on the one meal we ate that we shouldn't have, or the one day we did bad. But what about the 20 other meals that you ate that were right, or the 15 days in a row that you did great? I'd like to see us all focus on the postive and put those little pitfalls where they belong....at the very bottom of the long list of successes that we are celebrating.

I'd like to see us kick stress to the curb and not let it overwhelm us like an undercurrent that rips your feet out from under you and causes you to lose sight of where you are. I speak from experience here having grown up by the ocean. I was pulled under by an under current once but thankfully as a trained life guard I knew what to do. I didn't fight it but just relaxed and road the current out a little until it wasn't strong enough to hold me. I got my bearings and got to the top and swam back and everything was fine. When chaos happens slow down. Take a few deep breaths. Get your bearings, get reoriented and head back in the right direction.

Feed your body and your brain with the good stuff. Get some motivation from your friends on SP. Get your fitness minutes in and just keep moving in the right direction. Don't let stress beat you down, or mistakes drag you under. You're stronger than all those currents swirling around you. And just remember...for most of us no one is shooting at us!