Sometimes, there are moments in my life when I think I control everything, literally every aspect of my life. Then, suddenly, I wake up.
The older I am, the more I see we cannot control everything. Or, to be more precise, we cannot manage anything. Even controlling 100% of our own bodies and minds seems not as straightforward and easy a task as we may suspect. Especially, we can struggle to control our own thoughts. I think there can be various reasons for this. For example, when we are stressed, we can feel overloaded with the information our minds generate. In stressful situations, we frequently cannot control our minds. What about the external world? Can we manage it? Can we manage Donald Trump’s or Putin’s decisions? Or, can we control the weather? I think the answers are obvious. The truth is that we cannot practically 100% predict things occurring around us.
We can only convince, inspire, or influence some people; that’s it.
The futility of trying to manage everything is a profound realization that can enlighten us. There is no possibility of changing the past. Also, there is no possibility to predict the future. We are too limited creatures to handle all these things and to control everything. Is that a nightmare for me? On the contrary, the thought that I cannot control anything is, for me, beneficial and salutary. It’s a relief to know that I don’t have to bear the burden of controlling everything. For me, it would be a nightmare to have control over everything.
I do not want it.
I want other people to do what they want, and, luckily, there is nothing more I can do with them. For me, it is the beauty of life, knowing that all things happening around us are totally out of our control. If we cannot manage it, why should we bother with it? After all, we all die someday. Let’s enjoy life and process, and forget about all the kinds of controls we can imagine.
