September 9, 2008

The Control Paradox

The arrogance. What makes me, one of 8 billion humans on a tiny blue planet, shared with a multitude of organisms in a vast universe; think that I should be in control of the fine details of life’s events? This traffic should move faster so I can get to work on time.

A butterfly flaps its wings and around the world there is a hurricane. I am late for work and my boss is mad. I am late for work and I avoid killing a child that was in the middle of the road five minutes earlier. Do I really want those types of choices to be up to me? Do I have all the necessary information and processing power to calculate the past, present and future of every particle in the universe, in every moment, to make those types of decisions? No way. Not if I want the highest good for myself and everyone else in the world, and I do. [That’s my ego that wants to control. It’s scared.]

Some funny things happen when you give up control. There is a lot less to worry about. Things get pretty quiet inside. It feels good. This is the beginning of waking up to the present moment.

The only things you can control are your mental focus (if not always your thoughts per se), your emotional focus (if not always your emotions per se), and your actions (or more technically your initiation of actions…outcomes are not up to us). When you start to wake up in the moment, wow, what a concept, your mental focus, emotional focus and actions actually start to become appropriate for the moment you are actually in. Not some past or future or imagined moment. Life is starting not only to feel better (joyful!) but things seem to be going a lot smoother as well. Hmm.

Here’s the paradox…

We do have control. Our life experience is determined by our thoughts, emotions and actions.

We don’t execute the creation…directly. Some other part of this system (whether it be God, a mechanistic universe winding down from some higher energy point, All-That-Is, our inner self, or something else) is in charge of what objects, people and events enter our experience and at what times and in what three-dimensional location. Amazingly, the less we try to control, the more “perfect” the execution becomes (you’ll see).

When we live with a quiet mind, in the moment, aware of everything that is present (and, there is more and more available to us in the moment the more “time” we spend there), our thoughts are sparse. We have the clear space and perspective to focus on what is worthy of our true nature and highest intentions. Our hearts are also open, so we are using the power of our emotions.

There are waves of influence you can tap into, a.k.a. the flow. The flow moves things towards greater balance, peace, oneness, wholeness (keeping in mind that it may not always be a straight-line progression). You might consider this flow as a part of a benevolent force, or you may consider it a sort of Mother Nature of the entire universe.

If you are awake enough you can start to feel the flow, gain information from it, and have a personal intuitive understanding of how the flow works, how you can tap into it, and how you can work with it not against it.

This traffic should move faster so I can get to work on time. Wait a second (waking up a bit). I don’t know that the traffic should move faster. It is what it is, and what will be, will be…In fact I love all experience. Wait a second (waking up even more), I am outside of the moment here. (Waking up…) Ahhh…quiet, peace, joy.

Presence. Observing. Responding. Enjoying. Appreciating.

I am giving up control. I admit, I am not the greatest at it, and frankly it stresses me out. I am quiet, I am peaceful, I am present, and I am loving all that life brings me. I have a sense of the flow, and I am working with it. I am responding to the moment and all the dimensions of information within it with great feelings and my highest, clearest thoughts. Life is working beautifully, and it’s exactly how I’d have it. Whoever is in control, great job.

Tags: control, ego, the moment

Filed under Articles, Blog, Meta, Spirituality by Coach Michele

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The Control Paradox

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