Focus On What You Can Control

"If everything gets destroyed, what are you going to wish you had?"

It’s hurricane season. I’ll admit it, I kind of shrugged it off. Took it lightly. Whatever! Until Monday, September 26 when they were saying the storm surge could raise the water level near my house by 5-12 feet.

5-12 FEET????? That’s above my roof!! (ok not quite, but close!)

Suddenly hurricane season was a real thing, and “riding it out at home” didn’t seem like such a great idea. All I could picture was the news clip they show over and over and over of the lady on her roof, surrounded by massive amounts of rushing water, about to drown because she didn’t evacuate when they told her to.

So, when the “mandatory evacuation” alert popped up on my phone, I texted my friends Phil and Stephanie and said “Thanks for the invite inland for the hurricane. I’m on my way!”

I threw things in my car...

• My paddle board (because that’s going to come in handy when my whole house is underwater)
• My good luck Koru necklace
• My new top from White House Black Market (It is really really cute!)
• And shoes. Lots of shoes. (I was going to be naked from the ankles up, but gosh darn it, my feet would look good!)

I did grab my important papers, (I have a file called “important stuff”!) and some boxes of photos/memories and clothes for a few days, so I hadn’t completely lost my senses.

On the way to Orlando, the I4 traffic was moving slowly giving me plenty of time to think about what I hadn’t brought that I would miss…then I started worrying.

• Will my house be under water?
• Will everything be destroyed?
• Will the windows get bashed in by a tree and destroy everything in my virtual presenting studio?
• Will my mattress be soaked with water?
• What do you do with a mattress that's soaked with water?

All the questions. All the unknowns! My stomach in an absolute flurry of worry. What if what if whatifwhatifwhatifwhatif….

Then I stopped and gave myself a pep talk. (I am a motivational speaker after all…and this particular point is in my main keynote on embracing the discomfort of change, so I’ve said it a lot...to other people.)

Me: Anne…can you do anything else about your house and your belongings right now?

Also Me: No.

Me Again: Ok. You have no control over what happens to your house until you get back. You did what you could. Don’t worry about that now. Worry about what you can control right now.

Worried Me: Like what?

Motivational Me: NOT REAR-ENDING THAT CAR IN FRONT OF YOU!

Worrying about my house in that moment would serve no purpose other than to make me a complete basket case, (which I don’t enjoy) and distract me from what I could control in that moment. If there was anything else I could do, I would have done it, but frankly, there wasn’t. I just needed to wait it out and see what was up when I got home.

So I turned on an audio book, and focused on getting to Phil and Steph’s safely.

While I was at their house, I focused on being in the moment. Playing board games, talking about Disneyworld with the 6 year old, submitting my CSP application (more on that later!) eating the 16 year old’s amazing ham feast (Home Ec. homework WIN!) and generally enjoying the people I was with.

When I would start getting myself in a lather about the unknowns I couldn't control, I'd refocus on being in the moment (and eating all their hurricane snacks!) When the evacuation order was lifted, I headed home. NOW was the time to worry about what Ian did to my house because NOW it was safe to do something about it.

So next time you’re in a tizzy, ask yourself...

Can I do anything about this?

If you can, DO IT! If not, have a quick worry, then move on, and distract yourself with something you do have control over. You'll feel less like a victim of the world, and more like the resilient, strong human that you are!

Go get ‘em Tiger!