The other day, while scrolling through social media, I came across a meme, the gist of which was God asking one of his celestial underlings if he had the 2020s properly planned out. The angel asks, “Wait … did you say 2020s plural? As in the whole decade?” To which God responds with an incredulous, “You put 10 years’ worth of history in 1 year?” The angel sheepishly confirms. God looks miffed. End scene.

This quirky little post caught my attention, not because “Divine Powers Breaking the Year 2020” jokes are particularly original, but because of how succinctly it summarized the thoughts that have been jumbling around my brain for months.  Looking at 2020 on a timeline, it is difficult to pinpoint one particular catastrophic event from which humanity could not recover. This isn’t to make light of the problems we face, only to put them in perspective. History bears witness to the resilience of mankind. In the last century alone, humans have tackled obstacles that seemed insurmountable, including global health scares, natural disasters, acts of terror, genocides, social uprisings, revolutions, economic depressions, political warfare … The list goes on. With coordination and fortitude, mankind inevitably finds a means of coping, salvaging gems of wisdom from the rubble of what’s lost. We find a way to survive, often thrive, despite the worst challenges. That’s just how humans operate, right?

So what, then, is it about 2020 that stops us in our tracks and makes us think, “Well, shoot. Maybe this is how it ends. Maybe it’s too big and we can’t fix this.”? The answer, I think, comes not from the magnitude, but the multitude of events, one toppling over into another like a horrific game of dominoes. Any one of these catastrophic problems would be challenging enough, but facing them all at once feels akin to meeting Mike Tyson in the ring without a set of boxing gloves. How on earth are we supposed to survive the pummeling?

I write this, not to blather cynical commentary on an already dismal situation, but as a lead-in to a far more interesting concept, one that pertains to both current events and mental health (the topic of this blog series)— the ‘locus of control’.

And no, before you press the back-button, I don’t plan to bore readers with paragraph-upon-paragraph of esoteric psych jargon. I’ll keep the “teachable moment” brief.

The locus (or “place”) of control is, essentially, where one attributes the forces that dictate life events (Joelson, 2017). For some, the locus is conceptualized internally— as in, they believe that most of what happens results from their own choices and actions (Joelson, 2017). For others, the locus is conceptualized externally, which represents a “Fate controls my destiny” type of outlook (Joelson, 2017). Either perspective, in the extreme, has the problematic potential, often leading to cognitive distortions (irrational thought patterns) that impair healthy functioning. For example, one who over-internalizes risks becoming overconfident and egotistical when things go well (“See that? That was ALL ME. I’M the one who accomplished it! I can do ANYTHING!”) and unreasonably self-condemning when things go south (“How could I let this happen? Sure it was unexpected, but I should have found a way to stop it!”). In contrast, those with a strong external locus often fail to take credit for their own achievements (“Eh, it was just good luck. What I did wasn’t important.”) or, conversely, avoid accountability when mistakes are made (“This could have happened to anyone! I swear, the whole world is against me!”).

There, that’s your brief daily psych lesson, in a nutshell.

The question, I’m sure you’re wondering is, how does this relate to the Hellish Curse of 2020, the abysmal fate of humanity, or all the hilarious “God Busted the Universe” memes on Facebook? Funnily enough, it doesn’t. At least, not directly. What it relates to is you as an individual, reading this from the sanctity of your living room, office, bedroom, classroom, or car. Whoever you are, whatever your life circumstances, you have been affected by the multitude of events these past eleven months, many of which have likely left you feeling confused, frustrated, helpless, floundering for some measure of safety and, well, control. (Remember that “control” term above? Oh yeah, it’s all coming together.)

Life in twenty-first century America stresses the importance of internalizing the locus of control, on “taking charge of one’s destiny.” It’s as relevant to American culture as cheeseburgers and fries. For many, particularly those of under-privileged classes, the idea of “taking control” is a difficult task on the best of days. Now that the world is spinning on its head, where does it leave any of us? Forget all this “Finding one’s destiny” bunk. I just want to leave my house without worrying I might contract a horrible lung-ravaging disease.

As we stand, drenched in the torrid floods of “history in action,” we ask ourselves— How can we reclaim our locus of control? With every grim news headline, it feels progressively more externalized, just beyond our grasp. So how exactly do we re-internalize it, or at least parts of it, for the sake of our own mental wellness?

The concept of “reclaiming control through mental wellness” is the basis of this blog series. From my perspective, we never totally lost control to begin with. We’ve simply been so distracted by external factors, we forgot it was there. A mentally healthy, balanced individual sees that, even in the most dire of circumstances, we have the choice to determine not what happens, but how we respond to it. Yes, some things (many things!) are unchangeable, or at least we cannot personally change them. But what we can do is find a means of coping through them, of helping others cope, for the sake of our own growth.

Anne Frank (1993) once wrote, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” The beauty of this concept, I think, is that how one interprets “improving the world” is subjective. Improving the world might include helping the people within it, including ourselves. And what better way to internalize the locus of control than through self-improvement?

When we cultivate our identities, develop values, and address barriers to growth, despite all the fear and uncertainty around us, not only is it self-empowering, but it becomes an act of kindness. We heal the world through self-healing, setting an example for others who struggle with difficulties similar to ours. Our tendency towards “self-actualization” (a humanistic term, meaning, to realize one’s full potential) is what differentiates us from every other creature on earth. In the short-term, it improves us individually. In the long-term, it improves humanity as a whole. It withstands the social turbulence of the ages, pushes us past obstacles that frighten us, and helps us to fight for our own happiness. The best part is, the decision to improve ourselves is always in our control, no matter what fresh hell awaits us each morning.

Taking Ms. Frank’s words into account, why wait a single moment to get started?

 

Courtesy: Gwendolyn Brown, M.S..

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