This past week has been a little nutty and I won't lie, there have been some near breakdowns and freak outs. Things at school (mainly with tuition) have gotten severely complicated, not to mention my health insurance runs out in 10 days. Put this on top of my other bills like car, car insurance, cell phone, co-pays etc, I am stretched outrageously thin.
On Monday I was driving to school and was suppressing the urge to cry when a thought came to me... that I should stop stressing about all of the things that I can't control at the moment and instead focus on the small things I actually CAN control about my life. I find that when these big stressers rear their ugly heads, I tend to shut down and let the little, yet important, tasks slip through my fingers. The main problem with that anti-coping mechanism is that eventually all those little things like readings for class, or laundry, eventually pile up into another huge mound of shit to be accomplished. Even if I am only accomplishing a small task I still gain some kind of relief from it, even if none of the other huge problems have been solved. It also obviously helps me avoid only making the problem worse, so my new mantra is "worry about the things you have control over." I have already said it to myself countless times over the last few days and even though I still have no clue what will come of those huge problems hanging over my head, at least I've done something positive for myself and for my life.
That's my girl!
ReplyDeleteAnd bit by bit, you'll find out the list of things you have control over is bigger than you thought.
And then you'll rule the WORLLLLLLD!
And your flag with have rainbows and unicorns and music notes. And peace will rule the land. Amen.
I really feel what you're saying here...I definitely find that it can be empowering to focus on the things that you do truly have control over.
ReplyDeleteThe way the brain works is funny sometimes, but makes sense...it gets a sort of momentum, gets into a certain place or mindset. If you're in a place of thinking "This is beyond my control" and you focus on too many things like that, you can feel universally out of control. If, instead you start focusing on the things that you do have control over, then your whole mindset becomes empowering, and you become better able to see ways in which you can take charge of your life or influence things in a positive way.
Sometimes I'm even surprised at the insights and creative solutions that I can come up with when I get into an empowering mindset like that. Often, problems that I seemed to have no control over end up somehow becoming more tractable.
Maybe you'll find something like this? =)