Can Do

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
John Wooden

It is so easy when we are faced with an obstacle in our lives to focus on what we can't do. When it is raining on our parade, we focus on how we can't control the weather. When there is a traffic jam, we focus on how we can't get the cars moving again. When our spouse does something irritating, we focus on how we can't get them to change. When we don't like our job, we focus on how unreasonable our employer is. It is so easy to blame someone or something else when things go wrong in our life, and complain about it to whoever will listen.

But the real problem, and the reason why we get so frustrated is because we are focusing on the wrong thing. If it is raining on our parade, or there is a traffic jam, or we don't like our job, or our spouse does something irritating, we can always focus on what we are going to do about it because there is always something we can do. If it rains on our parade, we can figure out a way to minimize the effect of the rain on it. If there is a traffic jam, we can focus on how we are going to benefit from the time that we are not going anywhere, perhaps listening to an educational tape or good music. If we don't like our job, we can focus on how we can make it more rewarding for ourselves. If our spouse does something irritating, we can focus on the things they do right and how to improve our relationship.

Even if we can't improve the situation, we can always improve our reaction to it. There is always something we can do about any problem that comes up. Focus on finding that thing that you can do right now that will make you feel better about the problem. Every problem has a solution hidden in it, and all we have to do is to find it. Even if we are not sure that our actions (even if that means just accepting that things are the way they are) are the best solution, it is better to do something right now than to just sit there feeling frustrated and upset. Never let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. Just go ahead and do it.