I am not the type of person who usually goes in for those aspirational and inspirational affirmations that are all the rage on social media.
However, one that came across my Facebook feed recently really hit home.
“If it is out of your hands, it deserves freedom from your mind too.”
This is something I have been working on for a long time.
There are many many ways of saying this. “Pick your battles,” is another famous version.
Then, there’s the serenity prayer.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t control; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.
Oh, ‘twere it that easy.
Of course we sometimes worry about things that are not within our control, because while we might not be able to do anything about them, they can affect us, nevertheless.
The danger is letting the worry turn into obsession, thus interfering with our ability to deal with the things we can and should be dealing with. Then, we become overwhelmed with life in general and that is not a good state to be in.
Just completely ignoring them has its danger too. Ignoring something that is out of our hands, but could be impactful to us, could leave us unprepared.
So, how do we achieve the mental freedom we seek from the things we can’t control?
As counterintuitive as it may seem, we have to take action.
For example, there is absolutely nothing I can personally do about inflation, something that is top of mind for everyone these days.
There are things I can do, though, to lessen its impact on me.
It may require sacrifice and none of us really like to sacrifice, but it’s about balance.
For me, it comes down to one very simple question.
What is my peace of mind worth?