For most, times of transition can be difficult and take some getting used to whether the transition is big or small something planned or unplanned. I’m still trying to transition from holiday vacation back to entrepreneurial, student, volunteer, ministry, and family life. They all kind of took a break and started back up at the same time. It’s been a bit overwhelming but these are some things I have been telling myself to reduce my anxiety levels. They also promote balance and prevent me from going off on people due to stress =]

I hope they can help you if you start feeling overwhelmed.

1. Don’t disrespect your time
It’s one thing to take breaks and to carve out time for rest. It’s something completely different when you mean to send a quick text and end up scrolling on social networks for an hour!

2. Speaking of rest
We get so caught up in all the responsibilities that we have that we don’t take time for self-care. In all your scheduling and running around don’t forget to make time for something that makes you happy and rest! Hang out with friends, hang out by yourself, ride your bike, take yourself to a movie…do something that doesn’t feel like a to-do reminder. And most of all DON’T FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT!

3. The word “yes”
Just remember you can’t say yes to everything or everyone!

4. Priorities, get some
Everyday I have a towering list of to-do’s that need to be done. I love lists but sometimes seeing things carry over 

[Wanna download the pdf version to this blog? Just click right here and read some now and some later. Just click and it’s yours =)]

Embrace the traffic on the freeway! Whaaattt? Allow me to explain myself by telling you about my Thursday morning!

I was literally sitting still in traffic on the 91 freeway and feeling real anxious about it. I had to travel quite a distance knowing the travel time could be severely multiplied because I was using the 91 and 605 freeways (You have to know Southern Cali to understand). I wanted to leave an hour earlier than I did so I was already feeling late even though I still had about 90mins to get there, find parking, and find where I was supposed to be. I was just so worried I would be late and miss the opportunity altogether.

When I recognized what was happening I told myself “Melanie let’s sit back, calm down, don’t complain and just *sigh* take a deep breath.” As my anxiety decreased I asked myself what do I need to learn from this and thus, this post was born ;)

Why am I stopped?
It’s so irritating to be in stand still traffic and not know the reason why. It’s something like