Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind.
The kind that blindsides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
“Worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum” makes me realise that I am glad my adult life does not include algebra too. That would have added a whole lot of unnecessary stress to my fairly simplistic life. You know, like remembering you never replaced the paper towel roll that moment an egg breaks in your hands… Or trying to fold a fitted sheet or something serious like that.
We all worry about the future. I remember panicking when my tiny human was on the verge of starting to crawl. My office was one helluva mess at the time with dangerous objects and tiny pieces of who-knows-what and cables and electrical cords draped all over the floor. One morning I sat down and realised that, no matter how much I worried about my kid’s safety, the problem was not here yet. Sure, my office was a disaster, but I had enough time to clean it up and make it child-friendly. I am happy to say – no one who knows me well would ever have thought – that my office is now the child-friendliest room in our house. There is this saying by I-am-not-sure-who:
There are three solutions to every problem: accept it, change it or leave it. If you can’t accept it, change it. If you can’t change it, leave it.
This was exactly the case with my office. I took the necessary steps, threw out bag-loads of stuff I forgot I even had and found a place for everything I wanted to keep. Sure, there are still piles of things I am in two minds about, but I sort them as I go along.
It gets a bit difficult, we have to be realistic, when these worries include an unpaying client, a tight deadline, a friend who is dealing with a situation you can’t help with, or even something silly like the unexpected rain when your whole wardrobe is on the washing line (and tomorrow is Monday!) We need to accept, there is only so much we can do. Send invoice reminder emails, ask for a deadline extension or gather the courage to tell your client the deadline is unrealistic (hahaha 🤣). Or, when a friend is going through a tough time and you can’t help with the situation itself, send a simple message of support. Sure, you won’t solve the problem, but you did what you could and that is enough.
Every single time when I finally reach the stage and am able to say “stuff it, it is not my problem to solve” my problem ended up solving itself. >SNAP< Just like that. I am not a fan of mind-over-matter. I get lank upset when someone tells me it is a mind-over-matter situation. My mind matters and, in my mind, my problems matter. And I can’t just put my mind over all of my matters. The secret, I believe, is to just stop. Let it flow. Let it go. At the end of each day, the only person you need to put up with is yourself. Pat yourself on the back, say “I did what I could. Let’s try again tomorrow.”
And that is enough.