“When you can’t control what’s happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what’s happening, rather than attempting to take control of something else in life. That’s where real spiritual power can be found and it’s where you’ll also find true peace and serenity as well.” (Unknown)
It’s been a pretty common theme lately to feel out of control in one area of my life, only to attempt to take control in another to deal with it. Due to my ongoing health and healing issues that have been progressing far more slowly than my ego has wanted, I often find myself trying to grasp onto control elsewhere, such as with my partner and the work I think he needs to do in his own recovery, or with several men’s groups I’m part of and the rules I perceive are lacking in their current structure, or with friends who want to hang out with me and always feeling the need to choose the things we do together. Unfortunately, I’m learning that the more I attempt to take control like this, solely to counterbalance the lack of control I feel in other areas of my life, the more I actually seem to enjoy nothing. And the more I actually seem to enjoy nothing because of all these attempts at control, the more I continue to realize how much I’m sacrificing my own peace and serenity, which is something I categorically want a lot more of than I have right now! I know the key to changing this though is to accept the fact I’ll never be in control of everything that happens in my life. Instead, I need to change the way I respond to each of those things that truly are out of my control. After all, if I genuinely believe there’s a Higher Force at work in this world that’s bringing everything together for our greatest good, then maybe it’s time I begin accepting that One who I feel is really in control. In doing so, I think it’s a safe bet to say I’ll achieve the desired peace and serenity I seek a lot quicker, than if I continue to attempt to control one thing after another in life.
God, I pray you help me accept the things that are out of my control and to resist the urge to control other areas of my life in the process of acceptance. And I pray that I may feel more of Your peace and serenity the more I do.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
