Focus on what matters



Taken from the stoic philosophy, the idea of focusing on what you can control instead of on what you can't control. The purpose of such attitude is to save time and energy, instead of worrying about all the variables of a situation, that energy may be put to better use in trying to influence the variables you can control. Similarly to Buddhism philosophy, in which, worrying prevents one to live in the present moment by causing anxiety and creating suffering when there is no need for it. 

Has the Stoic philosopher Seneca puts it
"We suffer more from imagination than from reality."  


One should accept reality as it is and take action to change what one can improve, without wasting precious energy with expectations or thoughts of what may or may not be.
"If you can solve your problem, then what is the need for worrying? If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying?Shantideva, Indian Monk Philosopher 

Worrying is a byproduct of anxiety, we fear that something in the future will go wrong and so, our judgment can become clouded and biased, we hesitate and potentially take the wrong course of action. 

Expect the best, prepare for the worst. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder of Pakisan Country.


This doesn't mean that we shouldn't care, on the contrary, we should acknowledge our worries but, at the same time, address them and act on a practical level, if there is nothing you can do then address something that you can actually influence and if you did what you could and it turned out the opposite of what you wanted then accept that there was nothing you could have changed and be happy that you did what you could, even if in the future you get better knowledge about the situation you can say you did what you thought was best.


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