I feel like people say all the time to avoid stress because it can affect your health. It’s interesting though if you ask them how, you don’t always get a clear response. And the truth is, your health is affected by stress in multiple ways. I want to share with you a specific system of your body that is affected by stress that I find to be most common among working moms. Now remember, this is not the only way stress affects your health, but it is a concrete way that you might be able to identify with and then use this information to improve your health. First of all, what is stress?

It’s Mother’s Day weekend!  This is a great time to celebrate all the women who inspire you to reach your highest potential and that includes celebrating you too, because I know you do some amazing things.  The truth is though, no matter who we are or what challenges may come our way, we are all connected as women, moms, and the love we have for our own mothers.

It’s part 2 in my latest blog series! If you missed Part 1, check that out first. Before we dive into how to instantly relieve stress with just one word, let’s recap what you were supposed to do last week. Last week you were to pay attention to how you felt when you were asked to do something. We were looking for a pattern, remember? Did you notice your hesitation when you said yes to teaching the youth at your church on Sunday? Did any request cause you to feel overwhelm this week?

Having a child was hard for me. Getting pregnant came easy, but the actually delivery not so much. So after losing 3 children I finally conceived my son. And let me tell you, I don’t want to miss a thing in his life. But let’s face it, I do sometimes. Sometimes I’m traveling for work and I can’t be there to put him to sleep or take him to the park. Sometimes I’m working in my nonprofit or speaking to a group of women and I miss his swim classes and his first ferris wheel ride. Am I less of a mom? Is being a mother not my most important role?

I know some amazing women. Amazing women who didn’t have it all figured out, but pursued their dreams anyway. Everyday women I know personally who didn’t have the time, but knew they couldn’t let their dreams die.  Let me share just a few stories with you.

I have a mother who realized her dreams of modeling and becoming a dentist were second to her dreams of being an amazing mother. She wanted to ensure she was available to my brother and me while my father traveled for work and held demanding positions. I’m so glad she chose motherhood.

You don’t have to do it all. As a matter of fact you shouldn’t be doing it all. But as busy, corporate moms we think can handle it. After all, we’re handling million dollar accounts so surely we can still be the powerhouse at work, and a rockstar mom, doting wife, and committed volunteer all while looking fabulous doing it. We pride ourselves on this kinda stuff right?  “Look at me, look at how busy I am”. Somehow we equate busyness with importance or status; the busier we are, the more important or the higher the status. We use our email inbox to justify our value, but it’s really a holding place for all the things we want to respond to, but don’t actually have the time to respond to.

Diana is a corporate executive at a leading marketing firm in Chicago. She’s married with 2 kids and sits on the foundation board for the largest health system in Illinois. She’s active in church and several community organizations. She manages a full-time job, a family, and a full roster of community service. Diana works in a company dominated by men and constantly feels like she has something to prove. She wants to prove she can handle it all; work, family, community leadership, she’s got it all under control. Or does she? Does this look like she’s got it all together or do you see overwhelm, insecurity, and burnout? Do you see yourself in Diana?