Que Sera Sera (What will be, will be)
Control, by definition, means the power to influence or direct people’s behavior or the course of events. Most people seem to have forgotten about this because most people are worried about things they cannot control. Most of us let our happiness be controlled by something we cannot control.
According to a recent research, a staggering 85 percent of things that we worry about, never really happens.
Yeah, let that sink in.
One of the truths about life is that we have no control over 90 percent of the things that happen to us, yet we put more energy and time worrying about that 90 percent rather than influencing the 10 percent that we do control.
Do you remember what you were worried about three months ago on this exact date? How about six months? A year? We often end up creating this alternate reality where everything we are worrying about, is bound to happen and in the process, we miss what actually is!
Have you ever been in a situation where:
- Your alarm clock didn’t go off in time and now you are going to be late to work?
- You are stuck in traffic and are going to be late to work. All you think about is why does this happen to me?
- You spilled food on your clothes and have to make a quick run home to change.
- Couldn’t get a taxi when you really are in a hurry to get to work?
Do these situations often make you worried about being late for work or a meeting? What if I told you that each scenario above resulted in a life being saved?
The examples above are of actual people whose lives were saved in the 9/11 attacks because they couldn’t get a taxi, or their alarm clock didn’t go off or they spilled food on their dress. In their respective cases, the worst that could happen, is that they lived to see another day.
There is a beautiful verse in the bible about worrying.
Matthew 6:34 reads,
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble”
Next time something like this happens, think of it as exactly what was meant to be, that maybe god has something planned for you and this is all a part of the plan.
At the moment these things happen, the first thought is always ‘why me?’, but the fact of the matter is, you had no control over either of these.
You couldn’t have forced a taxi to come pick you up.
The traffic was not caused by you and will not go away if you sit and worry about it in the car. You could not have predicted that your alarm clock will not work for whatever reason.
Why then do you build these monsters inside your head and let them consume you?
How will worrying about these things solve anything in the first place?
One of the biggest worries of our time is what people think. We let this dictate most of our actions. We sit there nervously biting our nails and drowning in panic attacks instead of working towards conquering our goals. If you only think about what other people will think, then what will other people think about? Let them do their share of thinking! This is where we should learn from the most successful celebrities and athletes of our time. Plus, people really don’t think about you as much as you think they do. I mean, who has the time?
Our society teaches us to worry. In fact, a lot of people will think you are crazy if you don’t worry about most things. We are told to worry about college when we are in school, worry about jobs as soon as we graduate, then it moves on to finding someone to settle down. It seems that life is supposed to be lived between worries.
From one worry to the next, all our lives seem to be filled with terrible misfortune, most of which never happen.
Life is all about living and not about worrying.
The other day, my friend was stressed about his dad being hospitalised. Anyone would be, but my question to him was how will worrying solve anything and my advice to him was to channel that energy in helping his family out during this time. Law of attraction works both ways. The more you worry, the more you invite the negative energy that leads to (you guessed it) more worry!
Eckhart Tolle put it beautifully when he said: “worrying pretends to be necessary but serves no purpose.”
In your response lies the greatest power and as an optimist, I believe most slip-ups teach us something so we should maybe stop worrying so much and start living! We have no control over the future. All we can control is our actions today so why spend so much time worrying about tomorrow when you can instead choose to live today?
So live and let live.
This story was originally published on my blog https://tuseetjha.com.
