31st January, 2023
Sometimes, it can be all too easy to feel as though everything is going wrong. You are rushed off your feet, are having restless nights and it seems that in every area of your life things are beginning to take a turn for the worst.
Rather than these things being a result of a huge catastrophe or life-altering event, all too often we find ourselves in this energy-less, anxious, and stressed-out state from the everyday ‘little things’ that we are continually fighting to control.
Ask Yourself the Question, “Will This Matter 5 Years from Now?”
Almost every day I play a game with myself that I call “time warp.” I made it up in response to my consistent, erroneous belief that what I was all worked up about was really important.
To play “time warp,” all you have to do is imagine that whatever circumstance you are dealing with isn’t happening right now but 5 years from now.
Then simply ask yourself, “Is this situation really as important as I’m making it out to be?” Once in a great while it may be – but a vast majority of the time, it simply isn’t.
Whether it be an argument with your spouse, child, or boss, a mistake, a lost opportunity, a lost wallet, a work-related rejection, or a sprained ankle, chances are, a couple of years from now you aren’t going to care. It will be one more irrelevant detail in your life.
While this simple game won’t solve all your problems, it can give you an enormous amount of needed perspective.
I find myself laughing at things that I used to take far too seriously. Now, rather than using up my energy feeling angry and overwhelmed, I can use it instead on spending time with my wife and children or engaging in creative thinking at work.
Think back to some years ago – there were undoubtedly a countless number of things that you stressed and made yourself ill over.
Do any of these things matter to you now? The answer is, probably not.
You can’t travel back in time to warn your younger self, that the things they are wasting their time worrying about are the things that turned out to be not so important.
But what you can do is change your future, by no longer wasting energy worrying about the things that will not mean a thing to you or your happiness in 5 years’ time.
Play the game of ‘Time Warp’ whenever you get upset about something & stay blessed forever.