Zone of Control

Let Go & Find Freedom

Photo by Max Ducourneau on Unsplash

“This dew like life fades away; time speeds swiftly. In this short life of ours, avoid involvement in superfluous things and just study the Way.”

― Dōgen Zenji

Truth be told, there are a small amount of things that are under our direct control.

In our gift to control:

• Our effort
• Our mindset
• Our words
• Our actions
• Where we focus our attention
• Whether we are grateful for all we have
• What, and who, we give power to
• What people we let into our life
• What we ingest (food, drink, information, ideas)
• What exercise and self-care techniques we implement
• Whether we are compassionate (with others, with the natural world, with ourselves)
• Our expectations

What we cannot control:

• The future
• The past
• Outcomes and results
• How other people react / behave
• Whether other people care (as much as we do)
• What action, or non-action, people take
• The weather
• If we get that promotion
• Whether we win the lottery

Most of our suffering comes from:

a) not taking enough ownership of what we can control

and

b) trying to control those things we cannot.

We invest our energy in spaces that ultimately will not serve us.

But, we can flip this.

We can choose to focus ourselves in areas that will serve us. We can invest ourselves fully.

We can choose to be compassionate with ourselves and others.

We can let go of expectations and flow with life instead.

We can move with an easy grace.

We can learn to tap the stillness inside.

We can empower ourselves.

We can flow.

This post appeared in original form here.

Carl writes short books full of big ideas, including Write: Simple Ways to Uncover Your Best Work, *Simplify: From Inside Out and Akira: A Warrior’s Way. He is also the proud owner of Frictionless Living which is about the pursuit of simplicity to help us focus on what matters most, finding clarity in distracted times.*