Day 200: On Fretting About Yesterday’s Problems
“If a ship has been sunk,” Admiral King went on, “I can’t bring it up. If it is going to be sunk, I can’t stop it. I can use my time much better working on tomorrow’s problem than
by fretting about yesterday’s. Besides, if I let those things get me, I wouldn’t last long.”
So many people waste time living in the past. They feel guilty because of the mistakes they made last year, regret not making a different decision last week, or wishing they could have somehow foreseen a failure five months ago.
What’s the point?
Like Admiral King says, if a ship has been sunk, it’s not like you can bring it up and set sail again. If you made a mistake, it’s not like you can undo it. You can fix some of its consequences, but you can’t turn back the clock. Likewise, you can’t change the decision you made a week ago; all you can do is make a different decision today. Nor can you foresee the future; all you can do is try to do your best and prepare for the worst.
Tap into your resources of willpower whenever you catch yourself fretting about yesterday’s problems. Instead of ruminating about them, think about what you can do today — right here and right now — to improve your life. Ultimately, the only control you
have is over what you’re doing now, so make sure you’re making the right choices today.