It took me years to discover that one of the best ways to maintain emotional control is to key in on an “It’s okay” attitude. This attitude is built on the premise that if there is nothing that I can do about a situation, then why should I get emotionally involved with it?
Few of us are immune to the little things that can get under our skin and endanger our emotional well-being. There is the traffic jam on the way to work…the driver in front of us going ten miles below the speed limit…a business associate who is late on a project…a spouse who is upset because a chore has not been done…and the list goes on.
Isn’t it really okay for the world to move at its own pace? If you get upset, what have you achieved?
When the driver ahead of you is daydreaming and causes you to miss a green light, and you are already late for an important appointment, what do you do?
Do you blow your car horn and blow your stack? What have you truly accomplished with this kind of action? Are you going to let someone else’s conscious or unconscious action knock you out of your “It’s okay” state of mind?
How about that flat tire? How do you react to it? Just let it be okay, get out the jack and spare and fix it. Or call for help, right?
We can get upset, angry, feel miserable. But guess what? The tire still needs to be changed, doesn’t it?
The obese person worries about weight. Where is the focus? Isn’t it on the weight, not on the solution?
When we worry, we visualize the problem, not the solution. By picturing the weight issue continuously in their minds, that’s what the obese people get…more weight.
The first law in overcoming any problem is to first view it as being okay. When we allow our challenges to be okay, we have positioned ourselves to move beyond the problem and begin the process of seeking an answer or solution.
The goal is simple: adjust to the realities of life, regardless of how unfair these realities appear to be. An “It’s okay” attitude helps us to do that.
A roommate of mine in pro baseball often used the term, “You gotta cooperate with the inevitable.” That’s good advice, if you ask me.
Learn to go with the flow. Let things be. “Cooperate with the inevitable.” Establish an “It’s okay” attitude. If you do, you will last longer and go further.
