Over Easter Weekend, I was able to enjoy a beautiful spring day in New York. The respite desperately needed as the horror of all horrors had happened: yikes, my internet server had swallowed incoming and outgoing messages without my knowledge! Surely my colleagues and family would leave me for dead-yet another road warrior lost somewhere between State College, Pennsylvania and the Holland Tunnel—a pathetic way for a motivational speaker to go.

I welcomed the brief journey on Broadway to see Avenue Q, where the theme song "It Sucks to be Me" somehow deeply resonated. I had after all, just experienced hours of frustrating computer troubleshooting in a world where I didn't even know the language! Yup, you'll all be happy to know I finally discovered that my "pop server" was not grandpa bringing ice cream.

In Avenue Q, a Broadway hit that I would highly recommend, a cast of talented people and puppets ask the question, "So, what's your Purpose?" all the while experiencing life's temporary setbacks. We've all discovered that life is indeed filled with big setbacks as well as little, annoying ones, but let's listen to the puppets on Avenue Q and take heart this week: it's all temporary!

As we left the Broadway theater, police were holding back crowds, waiting for Julia Roberts to exit the theatre next door. I was proudly wearing my "It Sucks to be Me" button and yes, for just a moment, I thought of waiting for Julia and tossing her my new mantra. Surely even Julia has those less than perfect days. Doesn't she?

Somehow, I was feeling better about my internet woes that, while still unresolved for the moment, were indeed only temporary and small issues compared to "The Bigger Purpose." It was a message I had heard earlier in the week, as a group of professionals in training had shared their personal mantras for dealing with the stress of technology, change and complaining customers.

What's a mantra? That little voice in your head that talks you down from the rooftop in times of stress, with a short, soothing, Yoda-like wisdom that has meaning and comfort just for you!

One woman remembered a day when she was terribly upset that she messed up a pizza order as a waitress in college. Her boss probably should be promoted for his 3 simple words of wisdom, that today still bring the young woman back to her purpose: "It's only pizza." So what's your mantra for stress survival?

"It's only pizza"
"It sucks to be me, but it's temporary"
"I am doing the best that I can in the place that I am"

or maybe a simple question:

"What's the very next thing I need to do?"

Or quite simply:

"But what's my purpose?"

Rosemary Rein, Ph.D is an Author, Professional Speaker and founder of Costa Rica Learning Adventures. http://www.costaricatraining.com. She lectures internationally and hosts leadership and personal development retreats in tropical Costa Rica.

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