I had an interesting epiphany while taking my daughter to school this morning. The traffic was insane, the line into her school was long, and everything seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace. My first emotion was obviously frustration and anger. My stress level was through the roof worrying whether we would make it in time. But then I realized that the people and traffic weren’t causing my stress. No one outside of my vehicle was causing the emotions I felt. I was. It was my own reaction to the outside events. Suddenly it all made sense. You and you alone are in control. Other people, situations, etc. do not control YOUR reactions. You do! This realization allowed me to relax, refocus, and control my reaction to the stress. We made it in time…with a few minutes to spare.
