Dear Family,



When life gets tough and stress levels spike, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that the sky is always blue.

In The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day, Andy Puddicombe reminds us:

"The sky is always blue. The clouds are our thoughts, and when the mind is very busy with all these thoughts, the blue sky is temporarily obscured."

Anxiety, depression, and sadness are like dark clouds blocking our view of the blue sky above. As highly ambitious individuals, we often become our own worst critics, living inside our heads and telling ourselves stories that aren't true.Our subconscious feeds us lines like, "I'm an imposter and one day I'll be exposed," or "I'm not a good spouse because I didn't do X, Y, or Z."

When these thoughts involve financial stressors—like paying off a mortgage, student loans, or managing unexpected expenses—they can feel even more overwhelming. If you're feeling like this, know that you're not alone. Whenever these feelings start to emerge, take Andy's advice from the book:

"Imagine what it would be like to have a place within your own mind that is always calm, always still, and always clear; a place that you can always return to, a sense of being at ease or at peace with whatever is happening in your life."

For you, maybe that's enjoying a nice cigar and a cup of coffee somewhere on a tropical beach. Maybe it's the day you got married or the first time you held your son or daughter in your arms. Or perhaps it's the moment you made your last mortgage payment, feeling the weight lift off your shoulders.

Whatever that place or moment is, write it down in your notebook or put it on a sticky note, and remember that even when clouds obscure your view, the blue sky is always there.

Warm Regards,

Matt

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