By Emory Liscord MD

You are afraid you will fail at something?

Then what?

Life happens.

You fail.

And it’s fine.

So, why do we ruminate?

Why do we dwell?

Lately, I have been reading about the philosophy behind stoicism.

I think we could all benefit from a little more stoicism in our lives.

Stoics recognize what they cannot control, and don’t obsess.

What a concept!!!!

When stressors occur, a stoic would ask himself/herself

What can I do about the issue NOW?

And they do it.

If they cant do anything in the moment,

They let it go.

Pete has a great story about loosing a swim meet in high school.

His mother (the coach) says to him

“Now what?”

Exactly.

Why obsess or dwell. You cant change your performance.

BUT

You can do better the next day.

I am pulled in many different directions in my life.

And that, I feel, is a blessing.

I am challenged, loved, and nurtured physically, emotionally, and intellectually

But with this comes some stress (good and bad).

I tend to let it affect me.

I let stressors at work seep into my home life

Affect me when I’m on vacation.

I would like to work on this.

I need to ask myself

What can I do RIGHT NOW?

Then do it.

After that

Let the rest of it go.

If I have a fear of trying something new and of failing

I need to ask myself

And then what?