Put your stress in perspective

It is so easy to get embroiled in the minutiae of daily life. Chores pile on top of wish lists. Supermarket queues and incompetent drivers add a layer of frustration to the day. Everything seems urgent. Overwhelm can ensue.

And then every so often, life sends you a little reminder to take a step back, to put things in perspective. Today, Thing Two (my son, age eight) cut his head open with a cricket bat. He is perfectly alright now, after a trip to the plastic surgeon to dig out the remaining bits of the bat and stitch everything back together.

A minor emergency is a great clarifier, it seems. Funny how when needs must, a full day's itinerary can be shelved to deal with something that actually is important.

The most valuable things in life are not on any to-do list. Caring for our loved ones, spending a moment to feel gratitude for our cherished families is a most helpful way to reevaluate our priorities.

Perhaps all those tasks on your list - in whatever stage of completion - are not worthy of the stress we allow them to cause us.