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Happy Monday!

There is another guaranteed way to discover abundance in time: let go of trying to control what happens.

This is a hard one because our daily lives center around creating order to reach goals and to manage and respond to what is happening with our selves (body, mind, emotions), with each other (same list) and in our environments (natural, social, work, economic.)

Control is a tool that has served us our whole lives:

• Control is how we face the unknown.
• Control gives us a sense of security and assures us that we are in charge of everything that it is possible to be in charge of.
• Control is power to make things happen.
• Control is a way to get people to do what we want.
• Control helps us eliminate undesirable factors and predict and prepare for the future.
• Control enables us to manage what is happening – so that things don’t get out of control.

Control is such a useful behavior, why would we want to let go of it?

Because contrary to our belief – control actually limits our ability to freely live our lives, to creatively respond to what is happening and to relax, to be stress free, to know abundance in time.

Our desire for control causes sickness and tension in our body, anxiety, shortness of breath and stress in ourselves and in those around us.

Why are we so busy – why is there not enough time? Often it is because we are trying to manage and control things that are not within our ability to manage and control.

What are the things that you try to control? How does this impact your life, your relationships, your health and your perspective of time?

We all have our own idea of what should happen. And we carry these ideas into every interaction, every situation. This habit often leads to frustration when people around us and/or what is happening in our environment does not fit into our timeline or behave the way we want them/it to.

Letting go of control doesn’t mean that you don’t plan or have goals – it just means that you don’t become rigid in your plans or in your mindset. As soon as control sets in you shut yourself off from the infinite possibilities that are alive in each moment.

When you try to control what happens, you narrow the possibilities to only what you can conceive – to only what you think matters and what is important to you.

What often happens in planning ahead or in trying to predict the unknown is that our idea of what might happen or what we want to happen becomes our only view.  Our idea becomes what should happen – what must happen.  And here is where our desire to control steps in and becomes a trap.

Letting go of control doesn’t mean you don’t act or respond. It simply means you remain open in every situation to what is happening.

You allow your self, other people and your environment to have the freedom to be – whatever they want to be – instead of trying to conform everything to your limited, controlled view.

Control is an illusion – a mirage.

As much as we try to order our lives (with time, and other systems) the unknown element always remains. We’re reminded of this every day. (For example, will the stock market rise or fall?)

Notice this week when you become tense, or stressed or upset. Can you see how your idea of what should be happening is determining your response and affecting your emotions and your body?

Don’t limit yourself or the world to only your idea of what should be happening.

Let go of trying to control and let yourself ride the wave of possibilities.

(This post is #4 in a 5 part series on Time)