It's become a tradition at our Passover seder to go around the table and have every guest say what their personal mitzrayim, or personal Egypt is.

Just like we were enslaved for years to King Pharoah in Egypt, so too, many of us are enslaved by every day struggles and challenges. I remember one year my response was "successfully executing a sit spin at ice skating practice", another year "getting an A in my journalism course at school." This year, I've begun to think about what my response will be, what is my mitzrayim? A multitude of things run through my head, some silly, like keeping the laundry under control or washing the dishes in the sink.

Household chores aside, I believe that my personal mitzrayim, that I would love to be freed from, is the fact that I focus too much on the little things and don't always take the chance to look at the bigger picture.

With so much going on like a full time job, bills to pay, a wedding to plan etc., I find myself getting stressed out about little details, that in reality, aren't that important. When I say little details I mean my e-mail isn't loading fast enough or my fiancé left his socks on the floor and didn't put them in the laundry basket.

It's times like these that I try to take a deep breath, and look at things from a different angle. Yes, my e-mail is taking a while, but it is e-mail for work, and I have a full time job that I love and am fortunate as a recent graduate in this economy to be working. Yes, those are socks on the floor, but they belong to someone that I am about to spend the rest of my life with who is my best friend, and makes me incredibly happy.

When I look at it like that, the little things seem to disappear and seem trivial.

I believe that many people can relate to my mitzrayim and may even feel enslaved to it as well. Try to take a step back, focus on the bigger picture in front of you, and instead of being enslaved, you might find yourself saying "avadim hayenu" we WERE slaves, but no longer.

So, when it's my turn to tell the guests at my parent's seder table what my personal mitzrayim is, I know what I'll be saying. Do you?