This has been a blah week. I’ve been completely off center.

First of all, I’m stuck in a perpetual state of jet lag. Asleep at 10:00pm and awake at 4:30am is apparently my new normal. (I hate it!)

Next, I returned from a ten-day overseas business trip and immediately caught a cold. Thank you very much to the old lady who sat diagonally across the aisle and coughed non-stop – in my direction – for the entire nine-hour flight. I’ve been overdosing on vitamin C for the past five days. (I am never sick!)

I enjoy being out in the field working with interesting people and engaging in important activities. Being back in the office, however, isn’t nearly as much fun. Responding to pages and pages of emails is slow and tedious. My “to do” list is a mile long. In addition, being in back-to-back meetings all week long to catch up with colleagues – while necessary – has been exhausting. I feel like I haven’t made a dent in the things I really needed to accomplish upon my return.

I’ve been stressed out about other things too. The heat and humidity have been oppressive (I can’t stop sweating). Recent events in Israel (fires, Israeli terrorists, “normal” acts of terror) have been upsetting. The conversations, news reports, and conference calls about the Iran deal are frustrating. And the return of heavy commuter traffic, thanks to the start of another school year (some of our kids went back to school this week and the rest will be back in session by mid-August), makes the forty-minute trip to work even worse.

Like I said, it’s been a blah week. And then, all of a sudden, it lifted.

Driving home late from work this evening, I noticed the temperature dropping outside. It settled at seventy-five degrees (twenty-five Celsius). And then it began to rain…hard. As I pulled into my garage, my favorite OneRepublic song Counting Stars came on the radio. Suddenly I simply couldn’t help myself. I cranked up the Bose stereo, hopped out of the car, threw off my heels, and ran out onto the driveway to dance in the downpour. The rain plastered my hair and soaked my dress, but I didn’t care. It felt great to cool down and let the stresses melt away…”Lately I’ve been losing sleep dreaming about the things that we could be…I feel something so right doing the wrong thing….” I whirled and twirled like a kid and sang at the top of my lungs. It was awesome! (I only hope the neighbors weren’t watching.)

When was the last time YOU danced barefoot in the rain? Do it. See if your frustrations melt away….