My little corner of the world, idyllic Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was the unlucky recipient of 46.5 inches of snow over the last week. Two blizzards in rapid succession demonstrated the unyielding power of a one-two sucker punch from mother nature. It is simply not reasonable to get whacked by two, two-foot snowfalls. That kind of thing happens in Minsk, or some barren frigid landscape inhabited only by penguins. Or so I thought.

Quite to my delight, however, my response to the blizzards caught me thoroughly by surprise. Rather than freaking out about all the potential for disaster (we might run out of milk, bread and eggs, for goodness sake), I found myself at peace with the frozen bedlam. The storms helped me realize something to a much greater extent than ever before. I am not in control of the world around me.

What a liberating feeling to know that I am not the master of my world. I can think positively about it, and I do. I am organized, fastidious and strategic. I believe in the power of positive thought life. But regardless of how much I thought, wished and willed-away the snow, 46.5 inches still fell.

I think I figured out the real secret. Do your best and be at peace with the rest.

We can no more control the world than we can manage time. But we can control our response to events as they unfold around us. Focus your efforts and energy against the things that matter most and accept that lots of things will happen that you will have not anticipated. Rather than gnash your teeth about how the world is messing with you, revel in the fact that you are not omniscient. That there is some bliss to be found in ignorance.

Woody Allen once famously said “If you want to hear God laugh, tell him about your plans.” Hear, hear.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 11:33 am and is filed under Career Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.