{When I’m having a bad day, I like to stare at this picture of baby Maggie}

Earlier this week, I had one of those days. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. I’d over-committed myself and didn’t allot enough time for each thing. I was late to everything because I’d made the ill-advised choice to suddenly be optimistic about drive times, thinking, “Today will be the one day in Los Angeles that traffic will be a breeze!” (It wasn’t.) I had an audition that was run by a guy who clearly thrived on being a jerk. I watched him mock the girls ahead of me in the waiting room, reveling in how clever he thought his awfulness was. When it was my turn to go in, I sat up straight in the chair in front of the camera. He paused, studied me and said, “Oh! I’m sorry, are you auditioning to be a ballerina?” I replied, “Nope, just trying not to look like a slob.” He said “Well, do me a favor and just try to look like a human. Your neck looks…” And then he did an imitation of what I looked like. And then I did my audition. I should also mention he brought his dog to work and parked him right next to the camera. The dog alternatively farted and slurped his butt throughout the entire audition. Hollywood is so glamorous, you guys!

The thing is, every other day this week was great. But in general, I find that I give way too much of my time and energy to worrying about the stuff that wasn’t great. I’m a perfectionist, and I beat myself up when things don’t go the way I intended them to. It’s something I’m really trying to work on, because life is short and that kind of stress and anxiety makes the good stuff too easy to overlook.

So, I’m trying to give time, energy and focus to the good stuff. I’m writing this blog up on my deck because being outside in nature relaxes me, and sitting here reminds me how lucky I am to live here and have a fiancé who’d build a gazebo so I can write in the shade and not get skin cancer. I also downloaded the Headspace app, recommended to me by a friend who swears by it. It is billed as a free “personal trainer for your mind” – you dedicate just 10 minutes a day to mindful meditation and in exchange, you get peace of mind. (You can read more about the science of it here.) Going for a run in my neighborhood and forcing my dogs to snuggle me are also excellent stress relievers. So is eating frosting, but I’m trying not to do that (as frequently, anyway). I would love to know, what do you do to get yourself back on track when you’re having a bad day or feeling stressed out?