The Question I Answer To Keep My Peace
Hint: it’s an easier one than I thought it would be.
Countless things can set us off during the day. It doesn’t even have to be anything big; it can be someone cutting in front of us in line or an off comment from someone at home. Big or small, it doesn’t matter; everything adds up at some point until it gets too much and we end up in a bad mood for the rest of the day.
It can be so easy to let this just happen and allow too many perfectly good days to get ruined, but I learned something recently that’s allowed me to make sure it doesn’t.
The thing is, not everything has to bother you.
It seems easier said than done, right? I thought so too until I put it into practice and realised that it’s actually not as daunting as it sounds. I just need to take a second to breathe, put things into perspective, and figure out the answer to just one question:
Will being bothered by it change anything about it?
Oftentimes, the answer is no.
Asking this question when a situation that has the potential to ruin your day is usually enough to put things into perspective and show you that no, being bothered by this will not do anything. Cursing the hell out of this one car causing traffic is not going to magically make it disappear. Snapping back at someone’s snarky comment will not make you feel any better about it. Getting pissed off that your favorite item on the menu is unavailable won’t will it into existence.
It all lies in whether or not you can change anything about the situation to make it better. Will taking this thing seriously mean I can change the negative outcome? If the answer is no, I just let it roll over me after acknowledging it, because what else can I really do?
Our energy is an important resource and it’d be unwise to spend it on things that aren’t worthy of it. Ever since I learned this I’ve had more opportunities to spend my energy on other more productive things. I’ve also had more good days than bad ones since I refused to let anything that wasn’t worth my time bother me the way it potentially could.
Literally anything can trigger us into having A Particularly Bad Day; the key is to manage our reactions to it, and it makes all the difference.
