Lesson #1: Control is an Illusion

It wasn’t until I acknowledged this principle that I opened my mind to the possibility that my trials could actually be a blessing in my life—especially if I chose to look outward and upward rather than just inward.
From my childhood, I had built my fortress of control largely because my childhood was so out of control. Children need healthy boundaries to feel secure and loved. When children lack these essential boundaries, they often create boundaries of their own choosing. Those boundaries can manifest themselves as isolation, perfectionism, and an obsession with control. But we can no more control the rising of the sun, the changing of the tides, or a change in the weather than we can the course of our own lives. We can only control the choices we make and the consequences that follow. The rest is out of our hands.