Do you ever have a day that makes you want to give up?

• Everything you did was harder than it needed to be.
• Every conversation seemed to involve conflict.
• Even simple things didn’t go right.

Looking back at the end of the day, maybe it would have been better if you’d just taken a day off. Sure, you’d have more to do on Monday, but at least you wouldn’t have all these messes to clean up!

You might be onto something.

When pilots are learning to fly a small plane, one of the first things they learn to do is let go of the controls.

You see, planes are build so that, left to their own devices, they want to fly straight and level.

So when a beginner pilot gets into trouble, they are in a spin or lose track of which way is up, they teach you to let go of the stick. The plane will right itself.

What if we used that same process for ourselves.

So when you become aware that you are having “one of those days” instead of fighting your way through it (and likely making things worse in the process), you just let go.

Letting go might look different for different folks.

For me, it usually involves going for a walk, preferably someplace with lots of greenery. For others, it’s retreating to a hot bath, or going for a run, or watching a little TV.

When I step away, I get perspective; I can get back into my “right” mind, and then when I come back, it doesn’t feel like such a struggle. I’m not crashing through things.

The result is that I make more progress (having taken some time away) than I would have made by pushing through it.

Is there someplace in your life where you need to “let go of the stick?”