When I think of control, I picture someone or an animal shackled in chains, restrained from running free. What can we truly control? The sun shines without our intervention, and the ocean flows without our input. The more we try to control external movements, the more we see that such control is fleeting.
So my question is this? Can you control your thoughts, or is it rather about directing them, or sieving and filtering them to process what thoughts serve us. Can one truly control emotions, or is it more about how we are able to best respond and adapt to emotions such as fear, rage, shame?
To me, control is synonymous with a shackled chain—a symbol of restraint. True freedom, on the other hand, feels light and unbound. It evokes words like acceptance, flow, allowing, surrender, letting go, choice, and trust.
It’s also about finding the dynamic balance—the dance of letting go of rigid expectations, surrendering what’s uncontrollable, and asserting the necessary power to set boundaries and make conscious, intentional decisions. This is what’s on my heart today.
