Editor’s Column: Oct. 22, 2020

The only thing we can control

Have you been “cutting yourself some slack” and “giving yourself a break” when it comes to your personal goals and commitments because of pandemic stress? Eating a little too much, or eating the wrong things? Drinking to excess (I mean, does day drinking really count if you’re working from home?). Not sleeping enough or sleeping too much? Procrastinating things you don’t feel like doing because, why bother, the world is going to hell in a handbasket anyway, right? No wonder we’re depressed, cranky, and struggling.

Stress — whether from the pandemic or from the economy or from politics or from whatever source — is an insidious beast. It convinces us that doing things that aren’t good for us will somehow make us feel better in the end, that we “deserve a break today.” (If you sang that phrase, you belong to a certain generation and are now craving fast food.)

By the time you are reading this, there will be about 70 days left in 2020. Those days aren’t going to be easy. COVID-19 numbers are rising, the holidays are coming, winter is coming. The election is coming, and with it who knows what sort of new upheaval.

Guess what? We can’t control any of that. We can’t control what our friends and neighbors or even our family members do. When it comes right down to it, the only people we can make decisions for, be responsible for, and trust to keep commitments and meet goals is ourselves.

So here’s our challenge for the next 70 days: think about what you want to accomplish for yourself by the end of the year and come up with a plan to make that happen. You might want to lose the pandemic pudge or give up your booze habit or start a consistent exercise program or take up the practice of meditation and journaling. You might need help with those things. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Maybe you’ve decided to go back to school and learn a new trade. It’s a good time for that. Maybe it’s time to tackle those nagging mental health issues you’ve been avoiding, or get your teeth cleaned, or your eyes checked, or do a handful of those household tasks you’ve been procrastinating. 

The point is this: the whole world is pressing in on us now in so many ways. We can’t push back against it all, but we can push back against the one thing we have authority over: ourselves.