Fear and The Illusion of Control
When I have doubts, I sense fear. When I sense fear, I find that I am holding on to something too tightly. If I’m being honest with myself, I must admit that I am trying to control it. I need a clear picture of what I can exert control over and what I cannot.
The Illusion of Control:
1. We tend to believe we can control what we cannot (Circumstances)
2. We tend to believe we cannot control what we can (Reactions)
About the only environment I can control is the one between my ears…. And that is challenge enough for me.
I love this quote from the movie ‘Days of Thunder‘. It sums it up pretty well in an amusing way.
“Control is an illusion, you infantile egomaniac. Nobody knows what’s gonna happen next: not on a freeway, not in an airplane, not inside our own bodies and certainly not on a racetrack with 40 other infantile egomaniacs.” (Dr. Claire Lewicki – Days of Thunder)
Because of the Illusion of Control, we mistakenly try to control our circumstances instead of our reaction to those circumstances and we place our faith in something or someone we shouldn’t. We doubt that which we should trust. The fruit of one is fear and the other is peace.
Fear is NOT a fruit of the spirit.
What are you holding on to so tightly that is interfering with a relationship, an opportunity, a great plan or a blessing?