Short excerpt from a YouTube video by Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes offering practical advice on stress management: focus energy on what you can control, and use the mantra "not my circus, not my monkeys" to set boundaries and avoid wasting energy on issues you cannot change.
One of my favorite sayings is not my circus, not my monkeys. And I say it a lot. And what that means is recognizing what I can and cannot control. There may be stuff going on over here that bothers me, that causes me to stress, but if there's not a way that I can address it, if I don't have the power to change it, then getting all upset about it is just going to drain my energy and keep me from using my energy on things that are important in my rich and meaningful life. So the next time somebody brings you something that has nothing to do with your rich and meaningful life, it's important to consider, is this worth my energy? And if not, remind them. Or remind yourself. Not my circus, not my monkeys.
