Thrive and Awaken® Tip

We definitely have some influence over our lives. We can choose what to eat for lunch, which movie to watch, whether to go for a walk, or how we respond to something that happens.

Yet so much of life remains outside our control.

Consider how much you don’t consciously control:

– Your next thought or which memories will arise

– Most of what your heart, lungs, brain, and other organs are doing right now

– Many of your preferences, attractions, and dislikes

– The personality of your child or the people who enter your life

– Changes in technology, culture, the economy, and the environment

– The weather

– Ultimately, the circumstances of your life and death

Even many of the choices we do make are influenced by what came before. What we choose to eat, where we want to live, the people we’re drawn to, or the movies we enjoy emerge from a lifetime of experiences, preferences, conditioning, and circumstances we did not consciously choose.

In Survival Mode, the ego seeks control because control creates a sense of safety. We try to predict what will happen, arrange circumstances to our liking, and prevent what we fear. Some of this is useful and necessary. The difficulty comes when we demand control over what simply cannot be controlled.

Then life becomes a struggle with reality.

As we Thrive and Awaken, we begin to recognize the limits of our control and stop fighting them. This doesn’t mean becoming passive. We continue to make choices, solve problems, set boundaries, and influence what we can. But we become more willing to meet what we cannot control with Complete Acceptance.

Paradoxically, embracing our lack of control can be deeply empowering. The energy we once spent trying to make reality conform to our expectations becomes available for responding to the reality that is actually here.

We learn to adapt and flow with life’s inevitable changes. We become curious about what is emerging. We discover possibilities we could not have planned.

And perhaps we begin to experience something even deeper: the wonder of participating in a life that is continually unfolding beyond our control.

Reflection

Notice something in your life that you are trying to control but cannot.

What happens if, for this moment, you stop trying to make it different?

Then ask yourself:

What can I influence, and how do I want to respond to what I cannot control?