Sometimes the deep truths of life are pretty simple and cliché like, yet we often forget them. I was having a stressed out day trying to be five steps, or actually months, ahead of myself when a displaced coloring book with the title “Just Breathe” suddenly popped up on the children’s book shelves in Walmart.

When my daughter came home from a long day in kindergarten I let her choose a couple of pages to color and out of all the life wisdom quotes this is what she picked out:

There you go. It is that simple. That got me thinking about how good children are at making themselves happy when we give them the chance. If we give children time and freedom to do what they want (within reasonable and safe limits of course;) they will just go out and have fun and be happy. For adults it can be so much more complicated to find happiness even in our free time. There are always so much on our to-do-lists and things we should do. But if we deny ourselves doing what we truly want and love, we risk getting stressed and depressed. By now I know that whenever I take a break and let myself do something I enjoy I feel renewed and energized with room to be there for other people.

So next time I feel stressed out I might just go ahead and take her advice: “Live, Laugh, Love” – isn’t that what it is all about? And lets not forget the other great quote which sounds like it comes from the bottom of a child’s heart (and not Marie Antoinette’s): “Let Them Eat Cake”! In other words: relax a little and have fun!