In the Midst of Chaos, There Is Still One Thing You Can Control
Being kind to yourself is an underrated way to feel more in charge of your life
Have you ever had a stretch of weeks, months, or — god bless you — years where it feels like you’re putting out fires constantly? Like you can’t catch a break? Like the universe is really taking you for a ride?
I realize that, technically, we’ve all been living through that for the past 15 pandemic months. But I’m talking about the mundane things that — when three, four, five of them pile up — really start to test your resilience, sanity, and positive personality traits. An unexpected letter from the IRS. The presence of fleas in the flat you just bought and moved into. A roof that needs replacing. Speaking to lawyers about pending legal matters. One of these you can handle without too much disruption to your life, but all of them at once makes you feel like your life is descending into chaos, and you are just along for the sick, scary ride.
That’s been my life recently: One thing after another makes it easy to start to feel like I have no control. And sure, I have my health (shout out to Pfizer). I still have means to make money and people that love me. But still, as a person with a lifelong history of hypervigilance and perfectionism, these kinds of…
