The Relaxation Response

My little superhero

This morning, I was strapping my son into his carseat, trying (as usual) to beat the clock and get to our destination on time. My little boy was not pleased at the prospect of putting on his seatbelt. He pointed out a detail that--in his opinion--prevented him from staying in his seat. These words came out of my mouth:

"Mommy knows about that. Relax."

Not two minutes later, when we were (finally) on our way, my words came back to haunt me.

With all the responsibilities I am juggling in my life right now, I am concerned that I do things correctly. I have places to be, people to see, things to do. And little, if anything, is simple.

So here are the questions I asked myself as we drove: How often do I strangle the life out of a task with my obsessive fears and worries? How frequently do I refuse to take a step of faith or follow a direction because of a detail that--in my opinion--prevents me from obedience?

As we cruised down the street this morning--the houses and trees standing in silent witness to the fact that we were finally on our way--these were the words on which I fixed my mind:

"God knows about that. Relax."