Thursday, January 20, 2011

the secret == not caring

I think I'm finally back into the swing of things at work. There are some items beyond my control that are rather frustrating and could be taking up a lot of my time, but I learned a secret that helps me a great deal, though only when I actually pay attention to the secret. The secret is to stop worrying (read: caring?). I cannot help myself some of the time, but acknowledging that I'm essentially powerless to affect certain things goes a long way towards ignoring things with which I used to have unhealthy and unproductive obsessions with.

Things will be what they are. We'll plan around them as well as possible and then stop worrying. Either the plans will work or they will not. But stress and obsession and worry will not change what happens. This could be something downhole in a well, something being shipped or in transit, something at the mercy of the government customs agent, etc. Either way, short of (useful) super-human powers, there is nothing to be gained from a nerve-wracking obsessions over these items. We will plan and then we will wait. Perhaps we will refine the plan while we wait, but it will be a refinement born of interest in excellency rather than a fear of failure. Surely there will be failures beyond our control. Or rather, beyond our control now, but we cannot go back in time to change decisions made months ago with effects which have rippled their way to today. We will take note of their impact and keep it in mind (or better yet, written down) for the next time.

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