Why worry?

Why worry?

Many years ago I saw a great video made by some very creative colleagues from the Hilti Marketing Team about.... approach to life. Specifically - why there is no point in worrying. From that moment on, I literally changed my perception on different things that happen to me! One question had an incredible impact on my life. To this day, in various unexpected situations, I still ask myself this one simple question:

Can I do something about it?

If yes - then I stop worrying and start acting (I can influence the situation and maybe change it for the better - or at least I can try). If not - then why worry :)

Last week this approach was put to the test again. I was at the end of the first week of my holiday, we were returning as a family of 9 from Crete to Poland. A week of sunny weather, great Greek food and wine, spending time with the kids and the whole family in the pool and by the see. What a great life it was. And it was supposed to get even better. The next 2 weeks my husband and I planned a trip to Asia (first Singapore, then Korea). Just the two of us. Since our flight back to Warsaw was very early, we had to leave our beautiful Greek home around 3:30 in the morning. On the way to the airport, I started to feel slightly sick. When I got to the plane, it got worse - I had a headache and felt like I had a fever. As a precaution, I wore a mask throughout the trip - not wanting to endanger my entire family and other passengers. When we arrived at the airport in Warsaw, I had already started thinking about what I needed to do to recover quickly. We were to be at the same airport the next afternoon, ready for our Asian adventure. And while I was putting together a plan to "get back in shape at an express pace," we got informed that our luggage (and only ours) was missing and had not arrived in Warsaw. Everything that was supposed to go with us on the second trip was in that lost suitcase. This was the moment when I thought: "maybe the universe wants to give us a sign that we should not fly tomorrow?". By the time we reached home, the sign had become indisputable - I was Covid positive.?

While my husband was heartbroken and frustrated, I went to bed - with all the possible symptoms, including an almost 40-degree fever and a huge headache. I just wanted to lie down and wallow in my suffering. Over the next 2 days, 7 of the 9 people who went on that trip (including my children) became ill (all with light or no symptoms). After 3 days, I started coming back to life and thinking about what had just happened. I was now supposed to be in Singapore, enjoying time with my husband, eating great food and sightseeing. Instead, I was feeling weak, still unable to get out of bed, with a sore throat, lack of taste and dizziness.?

I had a choice - I could feel sorry for myself and ask the universe why this happened to me and think that the world is just unfair. Or I could ask myself a simple question: can I do something about it? The answer was clear: no. So I just accepted the situation I was in and decided to focus on the positives. And there were several of them. Most important - I gained a lot of time for myself. So I decided to do all those things I didn't have time for in the past months. I read books, wrote some articles, did some online training, slept, spent time with my children, read books to them, watched movies with them, lay in a hammock in the garden and did nothing. Was this the ideal way to spend the second week of vacation? Of course not! But I decided to make the most out of it. I decided to accept the situation as it is, not to think "what if..." and just enjoy the time under the present circumstances.

Tomorrow I will test myself again, and hopefully I will be negative. If so - I will visit my hairdresser and beauty salon. And I will meet my friend for a coffee. And if I am still positive? Then I will ask myself a question: can I do something about it? No. Then why worry! ;)?