It’s easy to get caught up in all of the stress these days. The world seems to be on the verge of “A Great Global Change”. This realignment is affecting everyone is different ways, but especially in the overall level of stress that some people are experiencing as a result of all of the change. Here are The Top Two Ways you can reduce the amount of stress in your life.

The #1 Top Way To Reduce Stress: Stop being responsible for other people

Here’s how this turns into stress in your everyday life. You’re driving in traffic and someone speeds by you going at what appears to be an extremely unsafe speed (or any other number of ways that other people drive that you notice). What happens? One of the first thoughts to cross your mind is probably something like “Wow, that person’s driving really fast. I hope they don’t get in an accident. But then again, maybe they deserve it for the way they’re driving…..” And so on. The conversation in your head has shifted to analyzing and determining the outcome (or any number of potential outcomes) of the situation. A situation that most definitely probably does not have anything to do with you. After all, you’re driving safely. You’re not rushing. You’re focused on the road. You’re not an out of control driver. So, why you should spend any time being responsible for the other driver?

The moment you stop thinking about your own life and start analyzing someone else’s life, you are accepting a certain level of responsibility for them. And you are ignoring the responsibility you have for your own life.

A good analogy is to think of your life as a book that you read when you focus on yourself. Sure, there are other characters that come in and go out of your life, but the book is about you. When another character enters your life, it is tempting to start reading their book. When you do that, you are no longer reading your own. You can only read one book at time.

The #2 Top Way To Reduce Stress: Start being responsible for yourself

In much the same way that you analyze what someone else should be doing when you start reading their story and stop focusing on your own, you should shift those skills to your own life. Examine your own story in that moment. Who are you? How is the main character of your book acting in that moment? You cannot focus your energy on another person and yourself at the same time.

Now is the time to crack open your own story again. Start reading from this moment forward. As you do, you’ll find intuitive answers to your questions rising up inside of you. Let those answers guide you.

It’s not always easy, but it does become easier. This is especially true when you start living your own life.

So, what should you do when someone goes speeding by you on the freeway of life?

Take a nice breath. Focus on the wonderful gift of life you have, breath in the positive love, and breath out any negativity. Flip the page of your own story, recognizing that the speeder on the freeway is not a character in your life and isn’t worth any of your thoughts or energy. Spend those thoughts on yourself.