“If It’s To Be, It’s Up To…WHO???”

Stress is a given in life. Strain, on the other hand, the inability to cope with the amount of stress you are under without negative physiological response, is negotiable. “In life, they pay you for how much stress you can take without breaking.” I forget who said that to me, but man is it ever true. But that’s not just about jobs and money. It is also relationships, and child rearing, and martial arts, and writing, and finance, and absorbing the daily news without running shrieking through the street.

The trouble is that by the time your fight-or-flight triggers have sprung, it can be too late.

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I don’t know why, but Jason was GREAT all weekend! His grades were up on Friday, he did homework on Saturday, and he cleaned his room on Sunday. He was polite, funny, open…wanted to share his thoughts, and wanted me to watch him play videogames. Went to LAFitness to play basketball and came home courteously, and was willing for me to make him a protein shake as a meal replacement. T and I were sort of stunned, really.

He was in the bathroom just before he came to the table this morning, and called out to me: “Dad, have any of your books been on the best-seller list?”

“Yep,” I answered. “Several. Twice on the New York Times bestseller list, and multiple times on other lists. Not every book, but I’ve done it.”

“That’s cool,” he said.