Every morning, I used to wake up wanting the same thing: a perfect day. I wanted everything to go exactly as I envisioned—smooth, successful, and without any setbacks. But the world doesn’t work this way. Drinks spill, cars break down, people have bad moods, and unexpected problems show up without warning. Even more unpredictable are our interactions with friends and family. People get upset, speak harshly, or misinterpret our intentions, and suddenly their emotions become ours.
These interruptions, combined with our failure to meet our own expectations, create the stress, anger, and frustration we often feel. We build glass castles in our minds, imagining the ideal scenario, and become devastated when they inevitably shatter. No matter how motivated we are at 7 a.m., life happens—outside of our control.
For a long time, I tried to fight this reality. I planned obsessively. I imagined perfect outcomes. I tried to eliminate stress by creating a flawless picture of the day ahead. But the more I planned, the more stressed I became, because reality never cooperated. Transit delays, family arguments, personal failures—each one felt like a personal attack. I blamed myself for things I couldn’t control. I stressed over tiny details. I feared change. And because I feared it, I couldn’t handle it when it came.
The pursuit of the “perfect day” did not make me happier—it made me more anxious.
Eventually, I realized that nothing needed to be perfect. What needed to change was my response. Life wasn’t going to stop being chaotic. But I could stop letting chaos control me.
Real strength comes not from avoiding problems, but from accepting them as part of life. The key is recognizing that events themselves aren’t inherently good or bad—they simply happen. What shapes our mood is the meaning we assign to them.
Two people can face the same situation—responsibility, criticism, or delay—and feel completely different emotions because of perspective. If we take off these “emotional lenses,” we can see events more objectively and react without unnecessary stress.
This doesn’t mean shutting down emotions. It means not letting emotions distort reality, or dictate how we live. It means choosing our mindset rather than being dictated by external chaos.
Life will never go perfectly. But it also doesn’t need to. When we stop demanding perfection from the world, we finally give ourselves space to live with peace and purpose.