Today I am flying to San Antonio and, in light of the fact that the plane is older than I am, I can’t help but think about death.  It’s no wonder; this plane is so old that they had to seal up the ashtrays and a piece of the plane disintegrated when I accidentally kicked it.  You might ask “who cares? that was just the floor guard”; well I do.  I don’t want to wonder whether I am riding the Greyhound in the sky.

There are plenty of situations, such as this, that are beyond my control.  There is nothing, literally nothing, to do except buckle-up and put my tray table in its upright and locked position.  I have just about as much control over this plane as I have over the guy driving next to me on the highway.

The Joke’s On Us

The biggest joke of our lives comes from thinking that we have control over it.  When things don’t go according to plan we berate ourselves and suffer a case of the if-onlys and much of the time we did absolutely nothing wrong.  Life happened. 

It’s not that we don’t have any control. Life is not Nascar; it isn’t us in a race car during a wipe-out just waiting for it all to be over.  However, the only thing we have true control over is our ’self’; our choices, actions, and outlook.

The problem is that we assume we have control over external factors of our life, when we really don’t, and we give up control over what we truly have power over without a second thought.  If that isn’t the greatest joke ever played, I don’t know what is.

We’re All Reactionaries

When we live from a place of reaction instead of choice, we have stripped ourselves of all of our power.  We, ourselves, have left us with no choice and ergo no personal power while we struggle to control our love life or career.

“He makes me so angry.”  “You make me happy.”

I am not saying that you can’t be depressed if you lose your job, but don’t think you have to be depressed if you do.  If you want to be depressed,  go ahead!  Enjoy yourself.  But you don’t have to go through life being a victim because you can consciously choose how you want to be.  In controlling how you want to be, you are controlling your being.

Choice = Power

People say that knowledge is power, but that’s only partly correct.  The only reason knowledge is power is because the more information you have, the more choices you can make.  Choice, and the ability to choose, is power.  Like charity, power begins at home.  Don’t give it away to others, surrender it to events, or sacrifice it to your ego. 

So on this expedition, I am choosing to be happy that my husband is with me.  If they plane goes down, at least we’ll be together.  But if I was alone, I could be happy knowing that at least he is safe.

And since I have the power to control my reality, it might as well be one of joy.