If there's one thing I've learned during through this journey of raising 12 kids it's that there is very little I can control. As hard as I try to control the people and events around me (and believe me, I try!) the less effective I am.
If COVID has taught us anything, it's how few things outside of ourselves we can control.
So when things seem out of control, my most effective strategy is to control what I can.
I can control what I put into my body. I can control how much exercise I get. I can control what feed on mentally. I can control how I spent my free time and with whom. And I can control the way I respond to the people around me.
As I am aging I realize the days that I am going to need the most amount of energy. On Tuesdays I have a day of meetings and today we even have our board of trustees meeting AND I've added an evening meeting.
So what did I do this morning? I was awake early so that I could drive away at 6:30 having already lifted weights, gone for a cool walk, listened to my daily Bible plan, heard a podcast, and filled my water bottle. I got to my office early so I could clean up emails and issues that would annoy me during my meetings if they weren't done. And I grabbed a basically no carb, all protein breakfast of a hard boiled egg and some cheese. Less than 300 calories for breakfast.
I may not be able to control what happens in my meetings or how many times my kids send me distracting texts or the bad decisions they might make today. But I can control how I feel physically because of the choices I've made. I can control how much energy I have and how good I feel (carbs deplete my energy and make me feel lethargic).
The temptation when things are out of control is always for me to sit in my recliner, watch Netflix, play Candy Crush and drool on myself.... but that gets me nowhere. So I control the things I can.
Try it. It might work for you too.
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