It's far too easy to get pulled off course, I think. The myriad moods of the many people we encounter on a daily basis, if allowed to control how we feel in the moment, will keep us unsettled and unfulfilled for most of the day. It's no fun to live in this kind of turmoil. But the habit is hard to break. For many, it begins in childhood. Perhaps a very demanding parent prevented you from having an identity that was separate, in some respects, from the family. What dad believed, every one had to believe. Or you had a teacher or a boss that belittled you fo[...]
Tag
control
8 The success of our relationships often depends on our willingness to detach from the behavior of others. How often have we thought, "If only he or she would . . . " I spent many years quite certain that if others would only change, I'd be happy, free from anxiety, content that the future would be all that I deserved. Try as I did, I was not successful in getting others to change. Nor did I even understand the concept of detachment. And now I am relieved that I am no longer held hostage by such folly. The burden of trying to be in control of the uncontr[...]
Perhaps you have heard this wise phrase: "our job is the effort, not the outcome." How often do we embrace it fully? Generally, we want to “secure” the result that we have imagined is the perfect one. And to do this, we assume we have to shepherd the project or the situation, or the person, down the path that leads to our definition of the “natural conclusion.” But the correct conclusion, God’s will, might not even resemble our will. That’s not an easy adjustment to make in our thinking. Hindsight is so revealing. For just a moment, recall a situat[...]
