Sometimes we just have to take our foot off the gas pedal and just riiiide.
Why do we often worry about things that we can’t control? We try to micromanage things that have never happened, plan out our entire lives, and balk in fear when things don’t go as we’ve structured them in our pretty little heads.
Unfortunately, humans are ill-fit for living with uncertainty. That’s because we’ve been taught over time to control everything.
One of the first words I learned in elementary school was “self-control”. We had to learn a character-building word each week for every grade that I grew up and I remember seeing that word plastered on the wall in bright neon paper. That word always flashed up the second week of school. I remember because it’s ingrained in my memory.
Through self-control, we are upped to be able to structure our actions in order to reap a certain reward and avoid a certain punishment. We know not to do certain things because they aren’t good and we know to do certain things because they are good. And thus we travel through life attempting to control everything that happens to us so can we gain the good and reduce the bad.
Except life doesn’t work that way.
Because when you least expect it there’s a squirrel flying through the middle of your road while you’re bumping at 80 mph. What do you do then?
Have you noticed that people who attempt to micro-manage always seem extra stressed? They attempt to go above and beyond their duties to get other tasks done for other people because they are “worried” that the job won’t be completed right. The other person is left stumped and confused as to why their boss won’t give them more responsibility or lead on completing a project, while the boss is left gratified that the job was done right — at the reigns of their control. If we attempt to micro-manage every step in our lives we too can become overly stressed. We begin to fear the unknown or life not going right and attempt to structure every point along the way.
This is a setup for failure because when shit happens we won’t know what to do. When we don’t get into that grad school or we don’t get that job promotion or we don’t make that sale or we don’t move to that country…we won’t know what to do.
However, if we had simply just relaxed and stayed prepared, everything would have fallen into place, not by our own prescriptions but rather by design of the universe.
You see there is no possible way that we can control what happens to us, but we can prepare ourselves for the assistance and guidance of the world. This means if we dream of something happening and can visualize the small steps that it takes to reach that dream while recognizing that some life may toss in twists and turns on the journey to success then we can make it.
You can’t be anal about your whole entire life. Or otherwise you’ll never really get anywhere. You’ll be driving around, hands gripped on the steering wheel, confused as to why everything seems the same because you’re just living life in a round-a-bout.
But when you lean back, put the gears into cruise control, and just let go…you see that your car, and everything you’ve worked so hard for and prepared yourself for will take you in the right direction.
This doesn’t mean make no effort in realizing your dreams. A lazy person gets no where either. Someone who has no motivation or drive gets no where. However, remembering that you need the universe’s support in order to reach your dreams is important.
If you’re not ready to allow unknown forces into your life to help guide and direct you then you’re not ready for success.
If you’r not willing to pray for God’s help when you can no longer do it alone, then you’re not ready for success.
You have to be willing to get comfortable with the unknown to make your dreams (things that have yet to happen) a reality.
Think about where you are in life and where you want to be. How could having a little faith and following your heart rather than planning every little thing out heal your soul and push you forward towards your destiny?
Are you living life on cruise control? Or are you still trying to take the wheel?
