During this last year, I learned how important it is to stop worrying about things I cannot control. This realization takes time, it took me about a year to truly embrace this. However, once I started to incorporate this outlook in my everyday life, I became a much happier person and my stress levels have decreased tremendously.
This year has been challenging for everyone because of the global pandemic. Things have been canceled, postponed and reinvented in new ways. As a planner and someone who thrives with a daily routine, the pandemic has really impacted me. There were many things out of my control that I could not plan for such as hybrid learning, Zoom classes and many other situations. I was constantly worried about things I could not control such as the future, the thoughts of others and the challenges that came along with the pandemic which caused me to neglect the things I could control.
It is very easy for our brain to be consumed with so many thoughts at once, but it is important to focus our attention away from those worries caused by things we cannot control. I constantly remind myself that I can not control the actions of others instead, I can only control my reactions to situations. I also remember how important it is to only focus on the choices and decisions I make instead of the decisions of others.
Although I still find myself struggling with this from time to time, I just continue to remind myself if I cannot do anything about a certain situation then I try to let it go. At the end of the day, there are so many things out of our control and if we let them overwhelm us it will negatively impact our mental state.
So the next time you feel overwhelmed about something, think to yourself “can I do anything about this?” If the answer is no, let it go and focus your energy on the things you can control. It will take time, but I promise you will feel so much better.