Working on a complex, time-sensitive writing project, I hit some challenges and could feel stress developing in my mind and body.

For a moment it began to feel heavy and unwieldy, not the way I want to carry this work.

I put it aside to spend some time serving someone else in our household, preparing a simple meal for them.

As I moved through the task, my mind found itself thinking through a solution and by the time I’d finished preparing the meal, I knew how to proceed with my writing project.

‘Stress to solution through service’ I said to myself, and I recognised a principle I had long valued but had rarely summarised so succinctly.

I’m not suggesting you can live by formulas, but if serving another helps turn stress into a solution, well, I’m thinking ‘win win’.