Stop The World, I Want to Get Off

There are days when life feels like it is moving too fast.

Work pressures. Relationship demands. Financial concerns. Health worries. Family responsibilities. The relentless uncertainty about what comes next.

And if we’re honest, there are moments when we silently think:

”Stop the world. I want to get off.”

Lately I’ve found myself managing consulting engagements, pursuing new opportunities, trying to resolve a delayed tax refund with the IRS, which, if you’ve ever tried to reach someone there, you know is its own particular form of meditation, managing this newsletter, staying present on Substack, making time for my wife and family, getting to the gym, going to church, and trying to figure out where the next chapter of my life is leading.

The stress I experience doesn’t come from those things alone. In many ways, we don’t live in the world, we live in our perception of it.

The same circumstance can create anxiety, frustration, excitement, or hope depending on the story we attach to it. And …