Losing Control

September 18th, 2020

Over the past few months much has been said about how drastically our lives have changed. We have been forced to respond, react and cope with ever-changing information and situations. These changes are happening so fast that it can feel overwhelming and so much of it is seemingly out of our control.

In the Spring, as Lisa and I were preparing to start running Netop for this summer, we joined a Zoom call. It was amazing for us to see how strongly the Netop community connected. However there was a noticeable theme running through everyone’s ‘check-in’; Many of you were struggling to fill your time, now that you apparently had so much of it. It appeared to me that this must have been adding more stress to those feelings of not being able to be in control.

Something that I have realized over the past few months is that, even in these times of apparent helplessness, there are actually so many things we can do in our daily lives over which we do have control. This popped into my head today when a friend of mine posted this list on Facebook.

Things you can control:
Your beliefs
Your attitude
Your thoughts
Your perspective
How honest you are
Who your friends are
What books you read
How often you exercise
The type of food you eat
How many risks you take
How kind you are to others
How you interpret situations
How kind you are to yourself
How often you say, ‘I love you’
How often you say,’thank you’
How you express your feelings
Whether or not you ask for help
How often you practise gratitude
How many times you smile today
The amount of effort you put forth
How you spend/invest your money
How much time you spend worrying
How often you think about your past
Whether or not you judge other people
Whether or not you try again after a set back
How much you appreciate the things you have.

As we move into the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming school year, where again we might feel a little helpless and lost, I encourage you to think about this list of things you can control. We wish you a safe, healthy and HAPPY school year and can’t wait to see you next summer.

Tom Thatcher, Camp Director

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