Say ‘Goodbye’ to

“Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda”

Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “I haven’t done enough,” or “I should’ve tried harder,” or “If only I could have done it differently.”? This is self-imposed stress. It happens when our self-talk is full of the word should. “I should have called my sister today. I should have studied math flash cards with my daughter today. I wish I would not have been impatient with my spouse. I should not have been so critical today. I should have seen that coming.”

The voices sometime swirl around our head and can be never ending. It’s like they are standing on our shoulder and shouting into our ear -- things like, “A caring friend would . . .” or “A good employee would . . .” or “You should . . .”

Here’s the best solution I know for this: Tell those voices that there’s no room in the inn. Stop listening to that critical voice. Self-imposed stress can be the most debilitating of all. It saps us of energy, it deflates our ego, and it causes ou...