Think About It

          The other day I came upon an observation from George Will who noted, “ Perhaps the soundest advice for parents is: Lighten up. People have been raising children for approximately as long as there have been people.”.  Interestingly, as I reflected on this observation it didn’t impact me from the perspective of childrearing as much as it reminded me that I am over-thinking life.  For the last several years I have found myself taking things too seriously.  I have spent too much time believing that I have to do things just right … I have to make sure that I don’t offend people by saying something in a certain way … and I have to do my best to eliminate mistakes and reduce the potential for error.  When I do fail, I feel compelled to apologize for it, analyze it and make sure I don’t do it again.  While all the above is good advice, I often find myself choking the life out of living by making it too confining.  What would happen if I worried less about doing things acceptably (pe