It should be reassuring... reluctantly reassuring I confess... to realise that I can't control everything.
Even the best made plans sometimes go wrong. As Harold Macmillan is often quoted, it is, "Events, dear boy, events," which trip us up. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, unless you or I discover that we are super-athletic or a super-genius, there will always be someone out there to outshine us.
Please don't mistake this for low self-esteem, I'm very good at er... "shining" and am quite content in the knowledge that no one can do 'me' better than me! However, life does have an unfortunate habit of outwitting us and, as I said, I find this strangely reassuring.
The truth is we are not immortal. Our inability to control everything is a fallibility that should be celebrated. Make peace with this and the pressure to be perfect or maintain that mask of invulnerability falls away - we don't know it all and we don't have to. It is healthy to embrace the truth that there is something out there far more magnificent and far more powerful than our grandiose illusion of our sovereignty over life.
Though I admit, the very thought of it inspires a little panic in me... But why?
Well, if you're anything like me then you don't give up anything easily. A personal challenge is often misinterpreted as a problem to be solved rather than a chance to get to know myself better. All too often, I'm like a dog with a bone, refusing to let go of an issue until I find the solution - as if by sheer thought alone I can beat the obstacle into submission.
I like to be in control.
Don't we all?
I really don't think I'm alone. By some quirk of nature, most of humanity finds itself in the impossible position of continually trying to understand everything; even though it never will. Put simply, the thought of releasing my grip on every outcome in my life is a bit scary.
However, like many before me, I have begun to discover that it is good to submit to the great mystery of the unknown. There is challenge and adventure in letting go of my control over every aspect of life. In doing so I find a renewed appreciation of the very things I hold dear: family, freedom, opportunity and hope.
Ironically, even if it achieves nothing else, the revelation that I don't have to be in control helps me to regain composure, and at least the semblance of control, over myself.
Even the best made plans sometimes go wrong. As Harold Macmillan is often quoted, it is, "Events, dear boy, events," which trip us up. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, unless you or I discover that we are super-athletic or a super-genius, there will always be someone out there to outshine us.
Please don't mistake this for low self-esteem, I'm very good at er... "shining" and am quite content in the knowledge that no one can do 'me' better than me! However, life does have an unfortunate habit of outwitting us and, as I said, I find this strangely reassuring.
The truth is we are not immortal. Our inability to control everything is a fallibility that should be celebrated. Make peace with this and the pressure to be perfect or maintain that mask of invulnerability falls away - we don't know it all and we don't have to. It is healthy to embrace the truth that there is something out there far more magnificent and far more powerful than our grandiose illusion of our sovereignty over life.
Though I admit, the very thought of it inspires a little panic in me... But why?
Well, if you're anything like me then you don't give up anything easily. A personal challenge is often misinterpreted as a problem to be solved rather than a chance to get to know myself better. All too often, I'm like a dog with a bone, refusing to let go of an issue until I find the solution - as if by sheer thought alone I can beat the obstacle into submission.
I like to be in control.
Don't we all?
I really don't think I'm alone. By some quirk of nature, most of humanity finds itself in the impossible position of continually trying to understand everything; even though it never will. Put simply, the thought of releasing my grip on every outcome in my life is a bit scary.
However, like many before me, I have begun to discover that it is good to submit to the great mystery of the unknown. There is challenge and adventure in letting go of my control over every aspect of life. In doing so I find a renewed appreciation of the very things I hold dear: family, freedom, opportunity and hope.
Ironically, even if it achieves nothing else, the revelation that I don't have to be in control helps me to regain composure, and at least the semblance of control, over myself.
