Have you ever let go of the steering wheel while driving a car?
If you’re lucky, you’ll end up in a ditch. If you’re unlucky, you’ll storm right off a cliff, or smash into another car.
Yet many people do exactly that with their lives. They let go of the steering wheel, and let the circumstances control them. They blame the weather, and the economy, and other people. And inevitably, they end up either stuck in a ditch-like dead-end job they don’t like, or storm right off a cliff into financial and emotional crisis.
Don’t let that be you. Grab the steering wheel, and steer your life where YOU want it to go!
You control your mood
Quick question. What controls your mood at any moment?
If you’re stuck in traffic, what controls your mood? Or if your flight is delayed? Or if you get drenched by rain, or barked at by a dog, or…
In all of the above cases, you control your mood.
Right now I’m sitting here, grinning from ear to ear. And you know why?
Just because. No reason. I don’t need an external reason to choose to be happy. And neither do you.
The split-second decisive moments
Have you ever slammed your finger in a door?
If you have, you may or may not have noticed an interesting thing. There’s a split-second between the moment you slam the door, and when you start hopping around, uttering muffled curses and sucking on your finger.
And the same split-second is there every time, between any event and your reaction. In that split-second, you can CHOOSE your reaction.
Sure, unless you’re a master yogi, you won’t have much of a choice about your reaction to slamming your finger in a door. It’s going to bloody hurt. But with a lot of events, you DO have the choice.
One day, back in high school, I was getting ready to leave the house. I had just put on my shoes, and then remembered I forgot something on the second floor. I hesitated for a moment, and then decided to quickly run there without taking my shoes off.
When going back downstairs, I noticed a set of brown stains on the carpeted stairs. It turned out the last time I was outside, I stepped into dog crap. And now I dragged it all over the carpet.
For a split-second there, the world stopped. I could either flip out, get all upset and ruin my day… or remain calm and deal with it.
So I decided on my reaction, the world stopped holding its breath, and I carried on. I calmly took off my shoes, then went to my mom, told her what happened, and asked if we have some kind of carpet-cleaning stuff.
“Sure, it’s in the bathroom, under the sink.”
I cleaned up the mess in under 10 minutes, and then went off as planned.
Sometimes you will drag dogshit stains all over the carpet of your life. But if you remain calm, you can usually get it fixed in surprisingly little time, and then get on with your life.
…
And that’s all, folks. Remember, you are in control, you can choose how you feel, and after every action, you get a split-second to decide on your reaction. In that split-second, you can either grab the steering wheel of your life and steer it where you want to be going, or you can let go and smash into a tree.
The choice is yours. Make the most of it.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Vlad,
I have been a subscriber to your site, visiting daily since its inception in 2007. I have always sat back, reading every article, day after day without commenting. This is my first time commenting on any blog. I would just like to compliment you and your blogfor all of the pleasure that it brings me whenever I read it. As a busy college student, I don’t have much time for leisurely activities however, I always find time to read your new entries. It is an absolute treat and being thus, I sometimes use your blog as a reward for myself when I get done with a large assignment.
Your blog has become as essential to my daily routine as my morning cup of coffee. And reading it gives me (and I’m sure many others) as much pleasure as sitting down by a fire and reading a good book.
Best regards–to you and your website,
Blake
@Blake:
Awwww, thanks
It’s people like you that keep me going through the rough patches. For every person that comments, there are several who always read my posts, but say nothing. So thanks for reminding me there are people like you out there
I love that quote “Sometimes you will drag dog shit stains all over the carpet of your life. But, if you remain calm you can usually get it fixed in suprisingly little time”… I may have to quote that as a facebook status
@Emma:
Please do, I love the idea that someone, somewhere, is quoting my words. Especially when they involve dog shit
Vlad…so what you are saying isn’t that life is dog crap but rather there is a lot of dog crap in your life – deal with it.
Love this post, it did make me cringe though, when my daughter was about two, she got her hand stuck in the car door….oh, the tears from both of us. Off topic but it brought up the memory.
The fact is that you can control the honking horns, the noise in the world. We sometimes forget. You know what, as dire as the world seems – the sun is still going to shine tomorrow, unless you are in England where it rains for 3 months at a time
@Simply Stephen:
Exactly. Exactly. And, EXACTLY! (on the last point :p)