It recently occurred to me that I could adjust my schedule the week we come back from a trip. In all seriousness, for years and years I would try to execute all the same chores in my routine regardless of the fact that we had been away. It makes me laugh (but also cry a little) to think of how often I’d jump back into life with only productivity on my mind. Never once thinking, What pace might create more peace?

When we leave for a trip all cylinders are pumping. I’m running to the post office (when the package has been waiting to be mailed for months). I’m throwing in loads of laundry (before the kids have a chance to take the clothes off their bodies). I’m returning calls (to people I haven’t talked to in months). Busy people get things done, as they say. Then we go away and we, of course, cruise at a slower speed. Why then, do I feel like I have to re-enter life going the same speed as when we left?

Habit. So much of the stress I have in my life is simply because I’m in the habit of doing something a certain way. Yes, I’m a grown-up—but it doesn’t always cross my mind that I can get from point A to point B by choosing different directions.

I once heard someone say that children are victims and adults are volunteers. In my experience, I can avoid a lot of misery by remembering that I always have the choice to pop over to the right lane and take it all a little bit slower.