CONTROLLING THE CONTROLLABLES

Life comes at you hard. Life comes at you fast. Life comes at you sideways. There are times when I feel like life is just a roller coaster ride with all the ups, downs, and curves thrown in. I can be traveling along thinking everything is rainbows and the next then you know storm clouds have descended and it looks like it is going to be a stormy ride.

Years ago I was fretting over going to visit my daughter in Alaska for the first time. I do not really like flying and it was going to be several very long flights before I reached my destination. My sister was trying to reason with me about the safety of flying, etc. and she asked me what exactly was the problem. I finally said that it was because I was not in control. I couldn’t control the pilot or the plane. She started laughing and then told me these words that stay with me all the time, “You’re not in control of anything!”

I knew what she meant, she meant that the Lord was the only one really in control. The funny thing is, that actually calmed me down. If any body is going to be in control I feel much better knowing that it is the Lord.

BUT, here are some things that she was wrong about. There are several things that we “can” control. The first thing is our attitude. Attitude is a choice. You can choose to be hateful or snippy or you can choose to be loving and caring. This is in your power.

You can control your emotions. You can’t help what life throws at you but you can choose to limit the amount of “drama” that you allow in your life. Certain situations are emotional and we either are sad or happy. But, it is the other emotions that we let dictate our day that we can control. Someone leaves a comment on your Facebook page, someone told a friend a lie, someone is mad at you, etc. These are small examples of drama that you can choose to ignore or you can get all riled up and pretty soon you are right in the middle of a nightmare.

You can control the comparison bug. The bug that makes you look at someone else and say, “I’ll never be that skinny,” “My kids never loved on me like that,” “I could never have a house that nice.” Really, you never know what the real truth of their situations is. The person who is skinny could have an eating disorder or be sick, the child that is loving could really just be trying to connive something out of the parent, and the house could be such a financial strain that their marriage is taking a toll. Don’t get caught up in the I am not a good scenario, instead, remember that you have enough and that you are good enough.

And you can control your actions. You can choose to whine and gripe about your situation or you can choose to take your plea to the Lord. You can waste time worrying about what some one else is doing or you can be doing something yourself.

In my little airplane story, I could have fretted and worried and hated the entire journey to Alaska. Instead, I chose to thank the Lord for the opportunity to go visit my daughter. Instead, I chose to pray for the pilot and for a safe trip. Instead, I chose to spend the time looking out the window and marveling at God’s creations, the beautiful mountains, the gorgeous clouds that we flew through, and just the majesty of the landscape below. All of these things would have been missed had I chose not to fly or if I had chose to spend my time being so afraid that I wouldn’t look out the window.

Life can be hard and there are many things we can’t control but controlling the controllable’s is at least a way to have a happier life.

Have a Blessed Sunday.