I was talking with my sister-in-law this afternoon and she was having a particularly difficult day at work. When she called, I was looking forward to hearing about her webinar that she hosted earlier in the day and I fully expected the usual “Oh you know… I nailed it out of the park! Cha-ching”. Then we could move on to more pressing matters, like coordinating her sister’s birthday and family BBQs.

But, that was not the response I got.

Me, obligatorily asking : “How was your webinar?”
Her: “Oh…. my…. worst day ever!”

Uh-Oh, something happened there – now I am faced with the dilemma of pressing forward with my agenda or getting into the “worst day ever”.
I decided to dip my toe into the waters of worst day ever.

Me: “What happened?”
Her: “You are not going to believe this, but my internet went down in the middle of the webinar!”
Me: “Oh, no! Did you have to cancel the webinar or just continue via the phone.”
Her: “Well, no. I work with a fantastic team and they took over and ran with our information and it still went on and all the information was covered.”

I was reminded of the ONE question that I ask my daughters when they are “fussing”.

Can you do anything to change the situation?

If my sweet little angels say no, then I gently remind them know that there is no reason to get worked up because, since you can’t do anything to change it.  It is out of your control therefore it doesn’t make sense to worry.

If, however, the little loves of my life say yes.  Then we are called to action!  If you are presented with a situation that you don’t like or are uncomfortable with and you can change it, STOP worrying and DO something about it.  This place of worry is not helping you.  YOU have the power to fix it!

I am reminded of an Erma Bombeck  quote:  “Worry is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.”

So, resign your position as General Manager of the Universe and stop wasting your time worrying about things you can’t control and DO SOMETHING about the things you can.