text: Accelerate: Stressed? Rushed? Trouble on the way! (aka Kayak Story #2)
  Should have taken my time to find a spot. Turns out that either my eye was wrong or the pipes lining the ceiling were hangin' low that day. New visual- woman in suit in car with 3 kayaks, wedged in place in the aisle of the lot. Couldn't go either way and I could hear the crunch. Very bad. Whole new level of stress. Tears. Felt like an idiot. New kayaks, too, mine's a bright yellow 14' Kestrel, gorgeous boat. Crunch. Boats have to come off the rack to free the car.
  I got the boats off the car myself, been working out to be sure I can do that- and Donald and Steve, the garage guys, stored them near the machine room for me, and they told me to go to lunch. I was only 5 minutes late. (but not quite fresh, it was a hot day) Another visual before we move on- woman in suit running towards car turning to enter the aisle- yelling "NO"- because the kayaks were right in its path. Imagine it, the kayaks are red, blue and yellow, they are smack in the middle of the parking lot aisle. The woman seems crazed. You have to laugh! So glad I don't have the video.
  Next time I'll let you know what happened to the boats, the car, and the stressed-out Barbara. The point of this story is that if you're stressed, if you get on the track of "so much to do, never get it done", something bad will come your way. We coaches call it the "Law of Attraction." You attract into your life what you project. How many times have you had a day that started badly and things just got worse?
  If you find yourself feeling completely stressed out, take a moment and recalibrate. Put your worries in perspective. How important will they be in an hour, in a day, in a week? What's the real damage? Get somewhere you can relax for 5 minutes, take a break. Tell yourself that you're fine and things will work out, as they always do. Most importantly- get out of your worry and into the present. You can't change the past, you can't predict the future, do the best you can do in the moment and move on.
  Be mindful and choose to respond to your situation appropriately. Reacting wastes time and energy, and we usually don't have enough of either. If you're having a bad day- stop and turn it around. Change your mind and have the best day possible from that moment on! (What happened after lunch? The next and final kayak story will clear that up)