A Note From Dr. Beverly Nelson, Director

Most of us want to make the people around us happy. We want them to be satisfied with who we are and what we do. Maybe your primary interest is to have a positive relationship with your spouse or partner, with your children and/or other members of your family. If you work with someone, whether it’s a business partner or a boss, you will naturally want them to be happy with your performance. We want to give our best in everything we do, and in all the relationships we maintain along the way.

While this behavior is positive and seeks to maintain harmony, sometimes we can end up stressing over trivial things, in our effort to please everybody. There is a huge difference between taking things as they come, and ‘slacking off’. Many times though, we confuse the two. This causes a great deal of stress and can end up jeopardizing the very things we care about the most.

So, how can we avoid stressing over whether we’re doing a ‘good job’ or not? As with most things in life, the answer is simple: if you give it your best, and if it comes from a good place, everything will be alright. if you can control the outcome of something, great! If you can’t, remember that you did your best. As far as how others may feel about you, well…that’s something you can only know through good, healthy communication. Just don’t lose sight of your happiness along the way.