“But every so often, I’ll have, like, a moment, when just being myself, in my life, right where I am, is, like, enough.” (“Pressure,” My So-Called Life, ABC. Dec 1, 1994.)

I had been stressed – as usual – from most things in my life for awhile. I had started a new job a few months back, and dealing with the daily trials and tribulations of having a toddler. And of course, my ever-so-constant tendency to over-think, over-worry, and over-panic didn’t help all that much. And, oh, did I mention I rarely sleep through the night? Well that hadn’t been helping things either.

In short, I was burnt out.

But then something weird happened. I was just sitting in my car, waiting for my dad to come out of Costco, as we were on our way to a family birthday party. Sipping my diet Dr. Pepper, listening to Keith Urban on the stereo, I caught myself feeling…wait for it…relaxed. But how could this be? I hadn’t recalled feeling that way in a very long time. I had been trying to find ways to de-stress, without much success. And all it took was 10 minutes, alone in my car, essentially just doing nothing at all.

But that was the point…in that moment, I wasn’t trying – I was just being. It was such a little moment, for a very brief time, but it was a huge awakening for me.

We spend so much of our time in circumstances that we can’t control, being stressed out, and feeling powerless to change anything. And sadly, in many cases, we simply can’t change the circumstances in our life, or the things that stress us out. We have kids, jobs, spouses, friends, and a life that depends on us showing up MOST of the time.

But we can make room in our lives for little moments SOME of the time when we can opt out, take a breather, chill out, and just be. If we can eke out enough of these little moments, however fleeting, maybe, just maybe, our lives would be so much more tolerable. Maybe even enjoyable. Maybe even inspiring.