Where we don’t trust the future, the universe, or others, we try awfully hard to control or avoid (and avoid is really another form of control) all sorts of things out of plain old fear.
This is a tremendous waste of time and effort and money. Stephen M.R. Covey quantifies this waste in his book, The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything.
And we can’t control any of it anyway.
The alternative to trying to control the future is not to ignore it and hope it goes away. Nor is it to sit around and wait for something to happen. The alternative to control is, nonetheless, very different from what we are used to. First we imagine the end results we want. At the same time, we conjure how wonderful it will feel to have those results. Then we take the next inspired action that occurs to us. And we repeat the process.
Freakish sounding, I know. Absolutely alien, right? Completely nutty, wacky, useful, productive, simple, and powerful. Just bonkers.
In your corner,
Mike
PS: Wait. What?
Today’s photo credit: Jesse Kruger via photopin cc
4 thoughts on “The Alternative to Control”
Love the p.s. Made me laugh out loud. And go back and read the post again. Thanks!
You are welcome.
Right on Mike, excellent way to combate the lethargy that takes over when we are face with uncontrolable difficulties!
By the way, you are on LinkedIn too, not just Facebook etc, aren’t you?
Thanks, Jay. Yes: LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.