I Can Give My Best Without Carrying What Is Beyond Me
Welcome to October.
Wooooow 2027 is around the corner!!!
There is something about seeing a new month on the calendar that can make it feel as though we should arrive differently.
More organised. More certain. Further ahead...
But life doesn't organise itself according to the turn of a calendar page.
Some things simply cross the month with us.
I am realising that one of the important questions to ask ourselves... isn't whether everything from September has been resolved!
It is whether everything I am still carrying requires something from me!?
That is different.
You see, something can still matter without requiring my constant attention!
Something can remain unfinished without needing to occupy my thoughts all day every day!
And something can still be uncertain after I have genuinely done all that is mine to do!
So perhaps October doesn't need me to arrive with everything sorted.
Perhaps it is simply asking me to recognise what still needs my participation, and what no longer needs my mental supervision!
Now, its even this thought that led me to this gratitude statement...:
I am grateful that I can give my best without carrying what is beyond me. Because I can give my attention to what needs me now, rather than carrying what I cannot change.
Giving my best still matters
I want to make thoughtful choices.
I want to take responsible action.
I want to follow through.
I want to show up well for the people, opportunities and responsibilities that matter to me.
But I am learning that there is a point where giving my best can quietly turn into trying to manage everything that happens afterwards.
And those are not the same thing.
Giving my best is about responsibility.
Trying to carry every possible outcome is about taking responsibility for things that may no longer be mine to determine.
That distinction matters to me.
Especially because my brain doesn't always recognise when its part of the job is finished!
The action may be complete, but mentally I can still be working...
Revisiting.
Checking.
Predicting.
Going back over something one more time.
Almost as though thinking about it for longer might somehow give me greater control over what happens next!
Sometimes it won't.
When my brain is still supervising
I love this phrase because I recognise myself in it.
Mental supervision.
Nothing is actually happening that requires an action from me, but somewhere in the background my brain is still keeping watch.
And that uses capacity.
Attention that could be available for what is happening now remains connected to something I cannot currently change.
This is where faith becomes incredibly practical for me.
I can ask:
Have I done what is mine to do?
If the answer is no, perhaps there is an action to take.
But if the answer is yes, I can acknowledge something else:
I don't have to keep thinking about something simply to prove that I care about it!
I can care deeply.
I can pray.
I can be responsible.
I can give my best.
And I can still trust God with what happens beyond my part!
A few thinking points for this new month of October
As you move in this month, perhaps sit with these:
What am I mentally supervising that doesn't actually require an action from me today?
Is there something unfinished that genuinely needs my attention, or does it simply feel uncomfortable because it is unresolved?
Where would one clear action help me move forward?
What have I already done my best with, but I am still carrying as though the outcome depends entirely on me?
And perhaps the most important one for me:
What might become available to my attention if I stopped mentally supervising what I cannot determine?
Not every question needs an immediate answer.
Sometimes noticing is enough to begin!
Try this today
Choose one thing that has been taking up space in your mind.
Ask:
What is mine to do here?
If there is an action, identify it.
Send the message.
Make the decision.
Write it down.
Ask the question.
Take the next step.
-
Then ask:
What part of this is not mine to determine?
Name that too.
For me, that is where I pray and trust God.
And then there is one final action that I think we sometimes miss:
Return.
Return to the person in front of you.
Return to the work that needs you.
Return to the moment you are actually living.
Return to what is yours to do.
That return matters.
It is part of protecting our cognitive capacity and helping our attention find its way back to where it can actually make a difference.
My October gratitude
So as we are now in October,
I am grateful that I don't need everything resolved before I can move forward, because
I can bring forward what still needs me.
I can act where action is required.
I can continue following through on what matters.
And I can recognise when I have reached the edge of my responsibility.
#IChoose to act where I can and trust God where I cannot.
Perhaps that is one way of entering a new month with a little more room to think, live and participate fully in what is here now.
If You Remember One Thing...
Something can still matter without needing your constant attention.
Give your best.
Do what is yours to do.
And when you have genuinely done that, you do not have to keep something under mental supervision simply because you care.
Sometimes the next responsible action is to act.
Sometimes it is to follow through.
And sometimes...
it is to trust God and press forward in life (anyway).
With Gratitude,
Your Friend and Coach,
Annabel
C3™ | Collaborative Cognitive Continuity™Remembering. Following through. Staying connected.
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