Like the weather.

Last Monday’s Cervelo bike race at the Dragway was going to be on “rain or shine”. But the weather had other ideas and it brought on a flood. I told my wife that I was depressed all day because I missed out on racing on the Queen’s birthday holiday.

While it seems silly to get so attached and emotional to something that I had absolutely no control over, it is a trap that I fall into all the time. The weather gets to me so often (especially that I also operate a roofing business) that sometimes I doubt my intelligence and even my sanity.

…And if I can let a simple thing like the uncontrollable weather stress me out, what other things in life that I have no control over can also trick me into unwarranted stress?

• I have no control over Sydney drivers.
• I am powerless to determine my life span.
• The score line in the rugby is any one’s guess.
• I can’t change how my spouse behaves.
• Whenever I think I can make lots of money, I end up losing it
• I train hard and eat less – yet the weight does not come off.
• I follow the latest technique to kick a bad habit – but it comes back when I relax a bit.
• I can’t even get that stupid song out of my head that I heard on the radio this morning.

Come to think of it, there is very little in life that we can do anything about. Yet, we persist in doing so and kick ourselves stupid for our powerlessness….or we try endless bouts of self-empowerment that lead to results that deviate from our goals.

It is time to stop making things happen and just let it do what it is meant to.