Letting Go Of The Illusion of Control

"Trying to control the future

is like trying to take the Master Carpenters place.

When you handle the Master Carpenters tools

chances are that you'll cut your hand."

Tao Te Ching

Have you ever noticed that life has a way of doing exactly what it wants to do? That no matter how hard you may try, everything has a way of following its own course, and ending up in a place you never dreamed it would? That no matter how much you may work and struggle to get everything in your life to line up the way you want it; something inevitably happen's that is beyond your control? For instance, you have a picnic planned for a beautiful Spring day, only to wake up in the morning to find it's raining outside. Or perhaps you're late for work; only to discover that your car has a flat tire.

In these moments we are shown, sometimes dramatically, that we simply do not have the control we believe we have. Just as we cannot force the weather to be the way we think it should be, we cannot force life into giving us what we think will make us happy. If we are wise, we learn that the only recourse we have is to either surrender our illusion of control and move with the direction that life is going, or continue to create unhappiness and suffering for ourselves by resisting and fighting against the Flow. Often we are like a person who is thrown into the water and doesn't know how to swim - the more they struggle, the faster they sink to the bottom. However, whenever we relax and stop fighting, the water will effortlessly lift us to the surface, and carry us downstream.

The good news is that, when we let go of the illusion of control and drop our resistance to what is happening, things end up working out wonderfully well for us in the end. When we learn to surrender to the flow of Life, and to trust the direction it is taking us, we tap into the Creative Intelligence that knows exactly what we need, at the time that we need it. In this 'letting go', we trust that what is happening, is happening FOR us, and not AGAINST us, and life becomes much more enjoyable and effortless. We also see that everything always has a way of turning out for our benefit; without our having to do, or control, anything to make it happen.

"We've never had control.

We have the illusion of control when things

go the way we think they should.

If you want real control, drop this illusion of control.

Let life live you...

It does anyway.

Byron Katie