Saturday Morning Mindset: Releasing Control of the Future

Worrying about the future rarely changes it.
But it always steals the present.

The most powerful thing you can do is focus on today.

For me, uncertainty played a major role in my tendency to worry about the future.

Every deployment in the Navy came with a lot of uncertainty.
There was always a schedule; when we’d leave, port visits, underway replenishments, and our expected return date.

But there was one thing that schedule never accounted for:
what would happen in the world while we were gone.

For most of my career, uncertainty got the best of me.
It left me feeling anxious, worried, and helpless.
I didn’t deal with it well.

I was also carrying unaddressed trauma, which added many layers to my inability to handle the unknown.

During my final deployment, everything changed.
It was the most uncertain time of my life, right in the middle of COVID.
We didn’t know if or when another ship would make it out to relieve us.
World events kept shifting.
We were constantly being rerouted to new missions with little warning.

Yet, despite all the chaos, I faced uncertainty with more confidence than ever before.
Why?
Because that’s when I decided to focus on me, to start healing.

What helped me most during that time was bringing myself back to the present moment.
I couldn’t control what was happening in the world.
But I could control what I did in that moment.

That small shift gave me back my sense of power.
I focused on one action I could take, one small step to improve the situation right where I was.

The next thing I worked on was my thoughts.
When we face uncertainty, our minds tend to spiral into worst-case scenarios.
We start painting negative pictures of what “could” happen.

I made it my mission to notice those thoughts, stop them before they grew, and replace them with something more positive, something within my control.
Some days, I had to do this minute by minute.
But I did it.

Doing those two things, focusing on the present moment and reframing my thoughts, helped me eliminate worry, calm my anxiety, and take my power back.

The future is always uncertain.
But peace is found right here, in the present moment.

Reflection Question: What’s one thing outside of your control that you need to release?

Action Step: Write it down, fold the paper, and place it somewhere out of sight, as a symbolic release.

Stay positive and take action!

Thank you for your support!

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