“One thing I just realized while reading my old journal entries is that I’ve gotten so incredibly better at letting go of control. I wouldn’t say I have completely mastered it but it was really one of my biggest issues a couple of years ago and one that was closely related to my perfectionism.
Perfectionism isn’t something I’ve been able to completely purge from my life but letting go of my need to control absolutely everything around me has made everything so much easier. It has allowed me to feel more at ease, feel less pressure and let myself make some mistakes.
I want to give myself permission to make even more mistakes and now that I will be resuming my mindfulness practice I will make it one of my priorities.”
That’s what I originally wrote in my daily journal entry last night but here comes the funny part…I finished writing this one minute before
from published her latest post “Taking Back Control”.While our posts speak about radically opposite takes on the same concept, after reading it I came to a huge realization: Control shouldn’t be a black or white thing. It’s not all-or-nothing. It’s about knowing when to take it and when to let it go.
It's important to keep control of your emotions, of your time, of your reaction to things and regain it when you feel you’ve lost it. And when to let it go…? Well, we should let go of our need to control others, to control outcomes and results and to control situations that are simply out of our hands.
Control is about knowing which boundaries and limits you shouldn’t cross as much as it is about knowing which ones you should.
It seems like lately I’ve been letting control slip too much out of my hands lately in areas where I should’ve kept it. Now I need to regain it.
Before I go I’ll leave you with one of my favorite stoic quotes:
"If it's not one of the things that you control be ready with the reaction
'Then it's none of my concern'"
- Epictetus
What a coincidence !! Love this insight you share with us. It's indeed a story of both taking control and letting go of it