Don't be stressed out.

One of the greatest killers of a great life is undue stress. A certain amount of stress can serve as motivation to study for a test or work hard at closing a contract, but we must learn to entrust to God and others events and attitudes which are beyond our control.
The Serenity Prayer is a beautiful prayer which keeps the balance of this perspective:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Two Bible passages that encourage us to entrust our lives to God are Proverbs 3:5-6 and Philippians 4:6-7.

Prov 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. NASB

Phil 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. NASB

These verses remind us to leave our concerns and worries before the throne of Almighty God. In His sovereignty and love, we trust that all things will work out for the good, to those who love God and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). This does not mean life necessarily will be easy, but we can have peace in the midst of the difficulties we face, and be thankful when we have a modecum of success.

Two other sayings help us keep this balance:

Work as if everything depends on you, pray as if everything depends on God.

Don't sweat the small stuff!

All that we might have a great life filled with peace, not stress!

Stress Relief

Most of us have far too much stress in our lives. We go from morning to night, moving from one event to another, with little down time, and lots of stress. We wake up late, hurry to get to work, get caught in traffic, are behind in our deadlines, scurry to our child's soccer practice, with laundry, meals, and bills always inflicting themselves on our "free time." This is not living a great life, but living a "treadmill life."

Critical to living a great life is building margin into your life. Without times of reflection and relaxation, life begins to direct you rather than you directing your life.

An important way to build margin in your life is develop the discipline of having a quiet time of reflection each day.

In his famous and interesting autobiography, Ben Franklin describes his goal to reach moral perfection by considering his life at the beginning and end of each day. He would ask himself in the morning, "What Good shall I do this Day?" and in the evening, "What Good have I done to day?" Franklin looked to God for divine wisdom in living his life. He often prayed, "O Powerful Goodness! bountiful Father! merciful Guide! Increase in me that Wisdom which discovers my truest Intrests; Strengthen my Resolutions to perform what that Wisdom dictates. Accepts my kind Offices to thy other Children, as the only Return in my Power for thy continual Favours to me." A pretty good prayer for a Deist!

Through this kind of daily evaluation, Franklin was able to accomplish much in his life without being overly stressed. However, Franklin did not seem to be overly concerned with morality in his life, and we have to ask, was Franklin prepared for eternity?

Jesus gives us the most helpful example of quiet time. He sought eternal purposes and perspective as He would get up early before His productive day began (Mark 1:35). Though the Son of God, He set aside time with the Father, seeking to affirm and obey the will of God. Because He had divine purpose and perspective in His life, He was ready for whatever came His way, even betrayal and the cross. Never being married and having no children also helped His stress relief!

A great life begins with taking time out to gain perspective on life. We need daily mini-retreats to replenish our souls, understand positive boundaries for our lives, and evaluate our goals. Get up each day with enough time to spend at least 15 minutes in prayer and reading the Bible. Pray for people and events, learn God's ways, and plan for productivity. Look for ways in your life to simplify and slow down, without sacrificing meaning and purpose. Productivity does not necessarily come from busyness. Build some margin in your life through a daily retreat and you will be on your way to having a great life.