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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of IHeart Radio.

Good morning.

This is Laura.

Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

Today's tip is that when you are facing a challenging time, figure out whether the difficulty is for now or forever.

You can deal with just about anything for a short period of time.

But if the hardship is more long term, you may need to come up with a different sort of time. But if the hardship is more long-term, you may need to come up with a different sort of

plan. So we have all had times when we felt especially stretched or challenged. Maybe your

workload at your job went from manageable to massive. Or maybe your spouse got a new job and it's requiring more travel than either

of you anticipated. Maybe your mom had a fall, and now she has a hip replacement and rehab in her

future. It's a lot for her and for you. Maybe the new semester has felt like a whirlwind. You feel like all your waking

hours are spent working, driving, picking up dropped balls, and recalibrating your schedule for the

next day. So when you are feeling this way, ask yourself this question. Is this difficulty

temporary?

Or is it the new normal?

When you know whether an issue is for now or forever,

you can decide how to navigate it.

When you know a difficulty or time crunch is for the moment,

you can view it as a sprint to be gotten through.

You can do virtually anything for a week or even a semester or so, if you know it's limited.

For instance, if your child care provider is taking two weeks off to care for a relative after surgery,

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