It's Time to Move On

"Feeling sorry for ourselves is the most useless waste of energy on the planet. It does absolutely no good. We can't let our circumstances, or what others do or don't do, control us."??-?Joyce?Meyer

Screw the Electoral College results. In 2020, it was seven-million votes that enabled Joe Biden to take the keys to the White House from Donald Trump.? This past Tuesday, Trump, by a margin of just over four million votes, set the stage for the keys to be returned to him this coming January.? Ironic isn’t it?? In 2020 almost half our electorate was celebrating a victory, while the other half struggled trying to understand how their candidate lost.? Four years later the situations are reversed.? If there is one lesson we have learned through our past election experiences, it should be this - Move on!

The election is over, and as Meyer states above, “Feeling sorry for ourselves is the most useless waste of energy on the planet.”? It falls back to us to move forward, use our energy for constructive endeavors and to assure the choices we make serve a productive purpose.? Equally important is avoiding the blame game.? Let the media waste their time trying to play Monday morning quarterback with an election.? There are a variety of factors to be considered, but for what purpose?? We need to focus on the road in front of each one of us, not on what appears in the rear-view mirror.? Let it remind us of where we have been, but not direct where we are going.

In Stoic philosophy the single most important practice is differentiating between what we can change and what we can’t.? What we have influence over and what we do not.? Our flight has been canceled because of a snowstorm.? The back-up on the roadway is due to an accident.? No matter how often we curse the weather or blow the car’s horn, we’re not going anywhere. Our efforts are actually counterproductive as the time spent directing our attention to that over which we have no control is time not spent on the things we can change.

Many years ago I had the good fortune to serve on the Treatment Committee at the Richard Caron Foundation.? It was a truly rewarding experience.? We often began or ended meetings with the following words, commonly known as, The Serenity Prayer:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

There are things in our lives that we cannot change, and there are actions we have taken that cannot be undone.? But we can change the future through the power we have in the present moment; the power to control the choices we make moving forward

Over two-thousand years ago the Greek Philosopher, Epictetus, shared that our primary task in life is simple, identify and separate matters so that we clearly understand those which are external and over which we have no control, and those that are choices over which we have primary control and decision capability.? He then asks and answers a powerful question, “Where then do I look for good and evil?? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own”Tomorrow morning the discourse about the election will continue.? We each have a choice.? If the best use of your time is to revisit the election and consider all the “what ifs”, or “if only” go for it.? Remember one thing; nothing will change.? Likewise, If we can focus on making clear what parts of our day are within our control, and how the decisions and actions we take serve to create better moments for ourselves and others, then not only will we be happier, but we will have a distinct advantage over those who spend their days like Don Quixote,? “tilting at windmills”

Embrace the Challenge.