There is a saying that “time heals all wounds.”

I don’t know if this is correct in a strict sense. After all, anytime an absolute statement is made, an exception is bound to pop up. However, time does seem to heal a lot of what ails us. A few minutes (or a nap!) can make the most bothersome nuisance seem like less of a big deal.

This past week was stressful for me. I had several days that were busier – work wise – than I have been in a long time. I had several trips, and a house full of visitors, adding to the tension. To top it off, I wasn’t feeling all that great, and plans I had made for my guests weren’t working out as I had hoped. A perfect storm was brewing (literally, as storms and heavy rain disrupted the plans I had made!).

A few days into the mess, things hit a tipping point. Instead of trying to fix anything and control things that were out of my control, I just let life progress. Naturally, and on its own, my stress and anxiety settled down, and I was back to enjoying my life instead of being caught up in it.

I noticed that much of my stress was caused by my own mind. My thoughts were running (and ruining!) my life instead of supporting it. One thing I know about my thinking is that if I stop fixating on my thoughts, they will naturally change and move on. Stressful thoughts will be replaced with more productive ones.

In the end, everything worked out just fine. My guest had a great time. I finished all the work I had to do. We all had a lot of fun, in spite of the rain.

Time is a factor that is under appreciated in everyday life. It’s typically referred to negatively. “I don’t have enough time” or “this is taking too long” are familiar refrains. We can forget that time also has a healing component.

If we let time do its job, particularly in allowing our mindset to self-correct, we can make use of that ever-present resource and use it to find our stride when we seem to have missed a step.

Here’s something to try: if you end up hitting any sort of roadblock in your business, career or life; instead of jumping into solution mode and trying to solve the problem right away, just relax for a moment (or an hour or overnight) and then come back to the problem. You might discover, as I often do, that the problem either 1) resolves itself or 2) the solution appears more effortlessly.

Give it a shot and let me know your experience by commenting to this post. I would love to hear from you.