Working on building a business, building new foundations to stand on has been both a pleasure and a pain. Distractions come and go and sometimes I guess it’s natural to wonder why in the world you are putting yourself through some of the things that you are experiencing.

Those are what I consider “step away” times. Times when the act of shutting down the computer, turning off the television, and forgetting totally about my challenges for awhile can renew my energy.

Have you ever been so wrapped up in getting ahead and surviving all the obstacles that you forget what the sun feels like on your face, or that you honestly can’t remember what the sound of your laughter was like?

That was a person I became after my father passed from lung cancer in 2004. In fact, between 1995 and 2006 I lost 7 close family relatives.

The good news is that I found the strength to survive. A lot of that strength came from finally stepping back away from it all. My mind has completely blocked out 1995 but the rest of my story will form the basis of a motivational book, DVD/CD inspiration series which will be featured on Oprah’s book club List and the universe only knows what else. Any interested publishers, speaking engagements or additional opportunities out there in my “Law of Attraction” based statement?

It wasn’t until I stood at my front door one morning and the sun suddenly beamed directly into my face that I “got it.” I understood that being too serious had blocked my path to success to the point where I’d almost stopped living in exchange for merely “existing.”

Simple existence has never been enough for me in the past, and it certainly isn’t an option now that I’m on my internet quest for financial independence. That’s partially why the focus of this blog site had changed quite a bit. I am branding myself as “the success blogger” so I needed to take my own advice in order to be able to share it and fulfill my goal of helping others.

Stepping back from difficult situations is sometimes the only way to put life back in perspective. So, does it matter if the challenge is big or small? No, not at all. In fact, I think sometimes the smaller things are pieces that got flecked off the bigger ones so take just as much thought.

During “the dark tunnel” as I refer to that earlier time period, I really had to stop taking myself and everything else SO seriously. So what?! Life is going to happen but was it OK to stop living? Would people really respect me more if they only saw my “professional” side (actually I think I did some major over compensating in that area to hide my feelings from the world).

It goes back to a previous post I made from Mark (Wizzer News) about doing less leading to becoming more productive. Kids in America used to call it “taking a chill pill.” It’s really about rediscovery of what used to be exciting, not full of stress and totally enjoyable just for the sake of entertaining yourself.

What do you do to step back from situations in your life? What have you found that works for you that you could share with others reading this?

Life really is too short to be taken so seriously so cut yourself some slack. Go to the zoo with your kids (which I did Monday), watch old Abott and Costello movies, dance barefoot in the grass to music that only you can hear, reframe the situation and do all the things you would regret missing out on if you were living today as your last.