Sometimes we think we don’t have a choice. We worry, feel stress, and carry doubts, those things are inevitable. To a certain degree, they are part of life, but they don’t need to linger longer than necessary.
External circumstances may influence how you feel, but they are not the true source of your emotions. You are the one who decides how to respond in certain situations. You are the master of your world.
Emotions are part of being human, but we can’t allow them to control us. You can do something about your anxiety, your stress, and your shame. It takes work and requires facing things you may not want to confront, but the benefits that come from accepting the realization that you have the power to change yourself are unmatched. Look within yourself and ask why you feel the way you do.
There are different ways to discover why you react to certain things. The first step is awareness. Once you realize something triggers you, try to look at it objectively. Ask yourself what could be done differently next time. If you tell yourself there’s nothing you can do, you may be lying to yourself. When we react poorly to situations, that reaction is often the very thing we have the power to change.
There may be nothing you can do to change the event itself, but you always have the ability to change or improve your reaction to it. If you can change something externally, great—go do what needs to be done. But if you can’t, why carry the weight of worry?
We can’t control external circumstances. We can influence them, but we cannot let ourselves become consumed by them. Instead, we must learn to master our internal thoughts and emotions. When you master the internal game, the external world loses much of its power over you.
Address the problem where you can actually make a difference: within yourself. External events are rarely the real problem; how we react to them often is. The discomfort resides within us, and that is good news—because it means we can do something about it.
Take care.