Mental Health Moment | Control
Feb 12, 2023Taking risks is fun when you have a little bit of control over the process. But living in a time of uncertainty, instability, and day-to-day unknowns can be frustrating and scary. The emotional intensity that's associated with instability makes for great recreational fun -- skydiving, bungee jumping, Jeep rock-crawling. But emotional intensity with real-life uncertainty just means that already-difficult-to-handle emotions like anger and sadness get intensified.
Knowing that you're going through a phase of unknowns and accepting that you don't have all the control, or all the answers, can help by alleviating some of the stress of trying to change something you can't change. Problem-solving is good to do, but sometimes situations require us to sit and wait, and we have to accept that there's a limit to the things we can do.
Change your focus from one of trying to change an enormous situation that's out of your control to changing just little things that you do have control over. Acknowledge what is beyond your current limitations, and work on the things that are within reach.