The Upside To A Lack Of Control

There’s an upside to the things we can’t control. 

Sometimes, I fall into the trap of believing that my life is pretty much completely in my control. I get to decide what hours I work. I get to choose which projects I take on. I get to angle my marketing efforts how I want. It’s good for me to think this way, because it inspires action and ownership. 

Except, it isn’t completely true. 

If the projects dry up, I have to take the next gig to make rent. If my marketing angle isn’t effective, I need to adjust it to be so. If a project is due the next day, I don’t have much control over what hours I work. I have to work until it’s done. 

Even in my own community, I feel I have a strong sense of agency as far as who I spend time with. But I didn’t choose my family. And I didn’t choose my relatives. And I may have picked from a small pool of roommate options, but I wasn’t in complete control. 

There are so many factors in our lives that we can’t control. Factors that were random, or chosen for us, or that were brought on by necessity. 

The upside to the things we can’t control is that we can meet people and experience things that we never would have or could have planned on our own. The things we can’t control often become life’s greatest gifts.