We can take it and we can lose it. Yet some of the most important things we can control are also some of the most basic. How much weight do you attach to your words and actions? If words become actions and actions become habits, it is worth considering their day-to-day significance.
Maya Angelou once said “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them”. When was the last time something happened beyond your control? How did you react? Inevitably, when it is something frustrating or distressing our reactions can be fairly instinctive. However, sometimes we may get swept up in the commotion of an event without realising we cannot affect the outcome. In moments like these, a grounding technique like taking a few deep breaths or having a meditative trick up your sleeve can help. In fact, knowing how and when to choose your ‘battles’ is a skill worth honing to minimise unnecessary emotional upheavals.
Sometimes it only takes the proverbial straw to tip us from in control to out of control. Indeed certain individuals fear being out of control so much they will seek to control everything in their environment to minimise this risk. Although this has benefits from a perfectionist standpoint, it can lead to a sheltered and plain lifestyle with no new experiences. In fact, something as simple as taking a new route to work can be the trigger to ease into trying new things without jeopardising the benefits of established productive habits.
Furthermore, there is the ongoing debate of who or what is in control of our fate. Some will argue our fate is sealed and destiny is what we can alter. Others will argue genetics, karma, God or our upbringing is at play. Ultimately, I feel we make our own choices and go where we need to go. However, there are certain events which seem too coincidental to be simply down to chance. Regardless of how and why they happened, it is up to us to make the best of them and steer our course accordingly.
“I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.”
Marilyn Monroe