Somebody asked me today how I deal with stress in my life.

I said, “What stress?”

Because, honestly, I tend to deal with it by just pretending that I don’t have any stress. But, if you know me, then you know that's not exactly true.

Owning a business with a revolving set of clients for whom each transaction is among the largest they will do in their lives is, at times, stressful.

Living in a 130-year-old house while I remodel it is, at times, stressful.

Managing the day-to-day schedules of four kids who can be devils just as quick as they can be angels is, at times, stressful.

Having a new puppy is, at times. . .

You get the picture.

Stress is an inescapable part of the human condition, and despite a genuine effort on my part, ignoring it does not work.

Know what does?

Sweating.

Julia will tell you that, without regular exercise, my stress level goes through the roof. I get irritable, angry. At times I can even border on being hard to live with.

[I know, hard to imagine]

Sweat, though, has a way of washing away the stress.

Wanna get some stress relief of your own? August 25th is the first ImpactClub® 5K. To date, Impact Club has donated just shy of $1,500,000 to local charities in cities all over the country, and this event will help support those efforts. The “live” 5k is taking place in Eugene, OR where Robert Grand and Ryan Fletcher co-founded the local chapter there.

We don’t have a local chapter yet, but there’s a worldwide “Virtual 5K,” and we’ll be running as part of that here in Monroe at 9:30 A.M. I’m commandeering East Frank Superette and Kitchen as the meeting place - we’ll meet there starting at 8:30 for coffee. I haven’t mapped the route yet, but it will start and end there so we can get a beer afterward.

[No, it won’t be too early for a beer. And the first round’s on me.]

Sign up today so your shirt will be here in time for the race. Steven Coward, Kelly Varner Coward, and J Taylor Walters have already signed up and you don't want to miss out on being dressed just like us.

Do it now; you’ll be glad you did.

See you on the 25th.