Unknown

Maybe the unknown is the cause of your anxiety or your constant sense of inner turmoil. Is the sleepless worry or painful tension in your soul caused by rumination on the thought of a place, person, or purpose you are yet to be acquainted with?

Unknown is the very opposite of familiarity and control.

As many of us have lived out our years, we have clear, razor sharp images of how a lack of familiarity or control has caused turmoil. These situations are seared into our minds, clearer, it seems, than the spontaneity that led us to great joy. We think back on how that lack of control led to destruction and it seems obvious that if we were in our comfort zone with firm handle on what was ahead, everything would have turned out the way it was carefully planned to.

I believe this destructive lie nearly every day. controlling situations, people, or circumstances only wears me out. How can I enjoy the beauty of the sunlight filtering through the clouds, my favorite songs, or the embrace of a loved one if I am incessantly grasping at it?

While familiarity and control can be comfortable for a while, they can cease the mind and make our souls believe that the possession of these two attributes in our circumstances are the most valuable.

We can create positive familiarity and we can create constructive control.

I have realized it is possible to divert our desire for control into something helpful. this constructive control can be created by writing, drawing, or composing music. using your passion. In the form of creation, we have complete control. these are absolutely positive ways to exert the damaging need to control others or our circumstances. One step that I find particularly freeing is that my need to control is just part of the human condition. Giving grace to myself when I feel the urge to have authority over a person or situation, I allow myself to realize that this is not how peace was intended to feel.  It is cleansing to our soul when we reframe our need for control in this life giving and creative way. This is by no means easy, but it is truly freeing. you can do this. Take small steps and check in with yourself.

When we reframe our unknowns into hope instead of fears, our eyes are opened and our soul can be renewed. Instead of allowing our minds to race to pick apart all of the infinite fears we can conjure up, we can choose to intentionally focus on the infinite hope that can come from people, places, or purposes we don’t know right now.