Control
Have you ever known anyone you would consider a control freak? We’ve all known people who need to have things done a certain way and become frustrated, irritable or anxious if it doesn’t go as they planned.
I consider myself to do relatively well when it comes to being a control freak but there are a few places where this doesn’t hold up. Kitchen knives. We all have kitchen knives but I’ve come to realize there are two kinds of people in the world – those that actually care about the knives, and those who merely view knives as another kitchen tool and any one knife is just as good as the other.
When I hear comments like those in the second group about the knives I think about how wrong that is. What type of knife you are using for the job, what kind of metal is the knife made of and what angle is the blade? Then there are the secondary questions – how are you cleaning the knives (don’t put MY knives in the dishwasher), what surface are you cutting on (don’t use MY knives on that) and how are you using them (hey, scraping MY knife like that ruins the honing!).
It used to be very easy to find myself becoming irritable, frustrated, angry and anxious when the knives weren’t taken care of the way I would want them to be. This was such a selfish way of living. It was all about me and what I wanted. Maybe the knives are not the biggest thing, but imagine how this could look if we let this tendency trickle into other areas of our lives.
Control and COVID-19
Being in the midst of restrictions and stay at home orders has revealed irritability, anger, frustration and anxiety in many people. Why wouldn’t it? Most people are not getting what they want in some form or fashion (this was true even before the coronavirus…but thats a topic for another day…).
When people don’t get what they want, the selfish desires shine through. This only fuels the anger and anxiety that continues to build. We can find ourselves in spots where it seems that everything is going wrong. Everyone is against me. Nobody understands me.
Being in a selfish place further isolates us from others. Allowing selfish desires to lead takes us to loneliness. We find ourselves in a spot that perpetuates the negatives we are experiencing and makes it feel impossible to achieve any positives.
Today, put what you want aside and look at the people around you. Begin to take note and realize how often we make decisions without regard for others. Allow yourself to start making choices that value others regularly. In doing this, you will be able to find your way through life’s challenges, through COVID-19 and beyond.
