“If you want real control, drop the illusion of control; let life have you. It does anyway. You’re just telling yourself the story of how it doesn’t. - Byron Katie
Things feel out of control to me.
Pick anything.
Our senseless culture of violence.
The stock market losing $7 trillion dollars of value so far this year.
The pandemic and all the shortages it’s creating.
A war in Europe.
I could go on and on and on…
So when life feels out of control I just embrace it now.
This is nothing new and part of being an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs are constantly dealing with challenges and at the end of the day, most are not under our control.
So what is under our control?
Not much. I do think I can control my effort and enthusiasm from moment to moment, but that’s probably giving me too much control.
If I’m feeling ill (which I am, I got COVID), how much effort and enthusiasm can I really muster?
The truth is once we surrender control and do not fight so hard against the tide we paradoxically feel better.
It’s stressful to live day in and day out with the illusion of control.
I’d rather spend my life firmly planted in reality than living in a fantasy that I’m the captain of the plane, flying through the work of life to the point at which I finally feel adequate, acceptable, and on top of things.
That day of everything being just right never comes. There will always be another email, another meeting, and another goal to strive for.
That elusive feeling of total control is just that. Always elusive.
Instead, look to nature for the antidote (and maybe quit reading the news).
"Nature Does Not Hurry, Yet Everything Is Accomplished. - Lao Tzu
