If it’s not OK, it’s not the end

Sometimes kids say things that make us laugh because it’s an unexpected phrase from someone so young. Sometimes they say things that show wisdom beyond their years that cause us to stop in our tracks and really think about how we ‘older kids’ behave, view the world and what we believe.

I received a tweet this week which quoted a young girl. This young girl is battling cancer and going through chemotherapy. She told her parents “”Everything will be OK in the end; If it’s not OK, it is not the end”. She also says her mum worries too much.

There are so many ways to view that statement and so I choose to see the reminder that we always have the power to choose the meaning in any situation. Yet, so often we forget that we have that choice.

Take, for example, something in your life right now that you are worried about, big or small. You’re uncertain about the outcome, or you’re expecting a painful experience, or you’re simply not getting the results you want and don’t see a way to change it.

Think about the specific element, the tip of the pin, the little nugget that has you really worried.

How often you do indulge in that state of worry?
How long do you choose to indulge in that state of worry?
What are you really worried about in that situation?
Does the specific element — that ‘tip of the pin’ — honestly warrant and deserve that frequency and duration of emotional worry?

So often we get trapped in our own self-induced fog of worry that we can’t see anyway out of it (…or that it could even be anything but something to worry about). We build up a huge story in our minds about the terrible outcomes that will inevitably arrive and conveniently ignore the fact that we always have the power to choose the meaning we give something, or someone. We expend a lot of energy on the ‘worry’ part of the situation, rather than choosing to spend our energy on the ‘wonderment’ and ‘gratitude’ of the situation.

If you find yourself in a consistent state of worry about some element in your life, remember that it’s not the end. Only when you release the worry, see the situation as it is (and not worse than it is), and choose a more heartfelt, empowering meaning, will the situation be OK.

If it’s not OK; it’s not the end. And you always have the power to make it OK.