It was 1989 when Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys. He came with the determination to make big changes in order to get the team back on track with their historic winning ways. However, some of the transitions were not timed or handled well. Well, actually they were mangled pretty badly. One of those mishandles was the way he let coach Tom Landry go (a nice way of saying he fired him).
Coach Landry was the only coach the Cowboys had ever had and he had been doing it for 29 years. He had become one of the best known and most respected coaches in the NFL. In a hastily called 45 minute meeting in Austin, Tom Landry’s career came to an abrupt end.
Most of us might have been hurt, livid, and wanting to complain and lament with whoever might listen. But Tom left that meeting and joined his family for a planned dinner. He did not appear to be particularly shaken. When asked about his reaction to the meeting and how he remained so calm, he responded, “I really didn’t think about it a lot after that. I really don’t worry that much about things I can’t control.”
What a powerful lesson is at the core of that statement. We are so prone to worry and fret about what is, what has been, and what might be. Not that we necessarily have any control over the circumstances, but we worry anyway. And by doing so we create stress, tension, upset stomachs, anxiety disorders, and the list goes on. But what if we worked to adopt Tom Landry’s mindset with “I really don’t worry much about things I can’t control?” How might that change your life?