Overwhelmed Mothers

Norman Fischer, a well-known Zen teacher, says there is an epidemic of overwhelmed people. Because we now have more possibilities, Norman says our expectations have been raised to unattainable heights.

Norman says busy moms should stop trying to reach perfection and focus more on their happiness, attitude and state of mind. "I think that the first thing we've got to do is recognize that especially as mothers, but all of us, our state of mind and our attitude is our most precious gift that we give to each other," he says. "Every day, we ought to wake up and we ought to say: 'How is my state of mind today? Am I losing ground?' If I am, I better address that first because the rest of the stuff I do won't be worth anything if I'm harried and hassled and in a bad mood."