“Looking deeper, we could say that the real cause of suffering is not being able to tolerate uncertainty – and thinking that it's perfectly sane, perfectly normal to deny the fundamental groundlessness of being human.” — Pema Chödrön
Yesterday Bella was attacked by another dog.
It's the the second time this has happened in the past two months, both completely unprovoked.
Thankfully, the injuries have been minor and only required pain medication and antibiotics.
So, yes...things could be worse.
But still, it sucks. She's in pain and she's sad.
And there isn't much my husband and I can do other than keep her comfortable and spoil her even more than usual (if that's even possible).
Why am I telling you this story?
Because sometimes things will suck.
Even if you "do everything right".
Even if you "play it safe".
Things can and will still go wrong.
Yesterday she was attacked at the dog park where, yes, the likelihood of a scuffle is much higher.
But the previous time we were attacked while simply walking down the street.
So should we just stay holed up inside the apartment forever because something bad might happen?
Listen babe, I have news for you.
It's not that something bad MIGHT happen.
Something bad will FOR SURE happen at some point in your life.
Will my bad thing be the same as your bad thing? No.
But everyone experiences pain.
Everyone experiences loss.
Everyone experiences disappointment.
Living in fear of those things doesn't change that reality.
Being consumed with worry over all of the bad things that could go wrong doesn't prevent any of those things from happening.
What it DOES do is trick you into thinking that you have control over these things.
And too many people are unhappy because they don't accept the things or the circumstances that they cannot change or have no control over.
Things like:
traffic
the weather
what other people think
what other people do
what other people feel
what other people say
the past OR
the future
Instead of focusing on the things that ARE within your control:
your thoughts
your actions and
your reactions
When you let go of the need to control what cannot be controlled, life gets a whole lot more manageable.
And when you accept the reality that at some point things WILL go wrong, you give yourself the opportunity to trust in your ability to overcome adversity.
To believe in your strength.
To acknowledge your resilience.
To say to yourself, "I can handle this".
Will it be easy? Maybe not.
Is it possible? Absolutely.
And it starts by adjusting your thinking and how you think about your thinking.
By noticing the negative thought patterns that keep you stuck.
By exposing your fears, worry and self-doubt.
By learning to trust in your power to create and adapt to change.
It starts with self-love.
Join me in my brand new 8-week course, Start with Self-Love...A Journey to a Healthier You, and I will show you how to get comfortable with uncertainty, how to take action in spite of fear and how to stop wasting energy on the things that you cannot control.
Want to know more? Click HERE and we'll have a chat (or just hit REPLY on this email!)
P.S.
When you commit to joining me in Start with Self-Love before 9:00 pm EST on Friday March 5th, you'll get a bonus 30 minute private coaching call ($100 value) as my gift to you.
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