In our lives, there is no one that can be harder on us than ourselves. We repeatedly beat ourselves up for past transgressions. We carry guilt for some wrong that we may have done years ago. We are constantly anxious about everything going on around us that may involve our home life, work or social situations. In doing this, we rob ourselves of the very moments that we should be enjoying the life that we have been given.

One of the programs that I just finished on my meditation app that I have been using is recognizing and letting go of stress rather than letting it control you. Life presents us so many opportunities to be stressed and anxious on a daily basis, which makes it even harder to escape from it when we carry guilt and anxiety from things that aren’t even a part of our life any longer. How we deal with that stress determines, not only what our moment is going to be like, but what the rest of the day, week or month is going to be like as well.

One of the things I have learned is that is it nearly impossible to rid your life of stress. The mere nature of our daily activities are going to present opportunities for stress to arise. However, when we recognize stress as an emotion, see it for what it is and then let it go, it starts to lose the power over us to control what our future thoughts are going to be like. The technique I have learned is to see it, recognize it and then bring the mind back into the body and let it go. Trust me, this is no easy task. However, with practice it is something that truly works in a remarkable way.

If you have ever read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, there are four agreements that we should make with ourselves that have become a part of my every day life. I have these posted on the wall in my office:

• Be impeccable with your word
• Don’t take anything personally
• Don’t make assumptions
• Always do you best

Stress and anxiety are two emotions that have the greatest potential to derail the kind of life that we all strive to live. Both meditation and living by these agreements have had a profound effect on how I experience life on a daily basis. Not adhering to any one of these four opens up a world of opportunity for stress and anxiety to be a part of my every day life. If you can find a way to make these agreements a part of yours, it is then that you will provide yourself the opportunity to have nothing to be guilty for, or anything to be anxious about.

Mornings with Ron is available as a podcast at anchor,fm/morningswithron or on iHeartRadio, Apple or Google podcast, Spotify or most podcast sites.