Let mistakes happen, move on with life

“It’s so easy to get stressed out about life that you forget to live it.” — Mel Robbins, “The Let Them Theory”

Sometimes we get so caught up in our anxiety or daily to-dos that we forget that we will never have this moment back. We yearn for the past in the present forgetting that one day this time in our lives will be missed. Life is full of stressful situations that we make worse by trying to control the outcomes of it. We try to control things that are not in our control at all and it makes us more stressed than we need to be.

Last week was a long week, and I was really struggling with people in general. It felt like the smallest thing would make me annoyed, and then I would get frustrated at myself for being annoyed at something dumb. 

I started listening to the Mel Robbins’ audiobook my dad has been recommending for weeks, and it really changed my perspective. 

A lot of my frustration was with things I couldn’t control. One of my friends didn’t think I was making the right choices, another was struggling with issues of her own. 

Things that I could not fix or control were taking up so much time and space in my head. I found myself worrying about other people’s issues and doubting myself at every turn. 

Two things helped me get out of that mindset. 

The first was advice from my parents telling me that I am going to make mistakes and that I know what is best for me. And the second was the audiobook. When I started implementing the “let them” mindset, I relaxed. 

Let them think you are making a mistake. 

Let them deal with their own problems. Be a good listener but do not try to figure out their issues for them. 

Let the professor waste time. 

Let that person not like you. 

There are things that you physically cannot control no matter how much you think or worry about it. So just let it happen. Let the mistakes be made and trust that you know what is best for you. 

Because if that is true, that means the person you are worrying about and trying to solve their problems knows themselves well enough to make the best decisions for themselves without your help.