Welcome to Let It Be Easy with Susie Moore.

Today I'm reading a page from Don't Sweat the Small Stuff every day,

365 simple ways to live a life you love by the late Richard Carlson and his wife, the gorgeous Christine Carlson,

who's been on the podcast twice now, my friends.

She is wonderful.

And I think, well, depending on your age, you'll know that Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

was the biggest self-help movement in the 90s.

And Christine has carried on to do Richard's gorgeous work

here in the world. And the chapter that I'm reading, each page is just a chapter. It's on page

123, so one, two, three. And it's called Life is a Test. It is only a test. And I've got to tell you, I use this language

a lot in my life and it makes a big difference. Stick with me. One of my favorite

posters says, life is a test. It is only a test. Had this been a real life, you'd have been

instructed where to go and what to do. Whenever I think of this

humorous bit of wisdom, it reminds me not to take my life so seriously. When you look at life

in as many challenges as a test or a series of tests, you begin to see issues you face as an

opportunity to grow. Whatever you're facing, when

looked at as a test, you always have a chance to succeed to rise above that which is challenging

you. If you see each new issue you face as a serious battle that must be won in order to survive,

you're in for a very rocky journey. As an experiment, see if you can apply

this idea to something you're forced to deal with. Perhaps you have a difficult teenager or a

demanding boss. Redefine the issue you face from being a problem to being a test. Ask yourself,

why is this issue in my life? What would it mean and what would be involved to rise above it? Could I look at this any differently? If you give this strategy a try,

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