move on

On Saturday I had a “really Universe?” moment.?

A car cut me off on the freeway and kicked a rock that broke my recently-repaired windshield.?

Quite frustrating in the moment, but also quite obviously not that big of a deal once you take a step back and consider life in the grand scheme.?

Nevertheless, I felt bitter about the incident for the next 48 hours. Despite my best efforts, some of this stress spilled over into my interactions with other people which I am not proud of.?

I reflected this morning, “wow, I really let this situation spiral and crush my spirits.”?

The operative word here is “let”.?

We don’t have to pretend like frustrating events aren’t frustrating, but there is such a thing as an initial reaction overstaying its welcome.?

You can only think to yourself, “this sucks”, “this is unfair”, or “this is frustrating” for so long before it starts eating at you and coloring your mindset for the worse.?

At some point it is clearly up to you to to decide to be positive, to focus on more useful things, to be kinder to yourself, to be kinder to others, and to move on.?

I think skillful emotional regulation is learning how to arrive at this decision sooner.?

The Daily Spark exists for two reasons:

1. To document one idea every day that I've found helpful in my life.
2. To inspire you to discover what matters most and to take action towards it.

Reading subscription: LinkedIn, Substack,?and Medium.

Audio subscription: Spotify, Anchor, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Google Podcasts, and RadioPublic.

About me:

I'm a second-generation Taiwanese American trying to find life’s greatest sources of meaning and make the most out of it.