Self control.
What does that even mean?
Could it be self discipline, to do things we don’t want to do, but should do, must do as a response-able citizen, mother, daughter, employee, business owner?
Controlling our emotions, controlling our bodies natural instincts. Could look like drink energy drinks to control our sleepiness, to fooling our body with outside influences to raise our energy, while our bodies cry out for sleep!
Today, while getting ready for work, finishing up my breakfast, I noticed my internal voice making excuses to put off going to the restroom neglecting the natural sensations of my body. “I need to make my waterbottle first, oh I need to wash the dishes first”and so on.
Looking for the deeper truth, knowing that these thoughts have formulated through past experiences and grew into unconscious patterns.
When I was a kid my dad used to teach us to have a strong mind and control our bodies. He would tickle me and tell me not to laugh. I learned to dissociate from my body. I realized that this had been engrained at such a young age that I didn’t have the capacity to understand the power of balancing this behavior.
While what my dad was trying to teach me was well intentioned, it went too far. It went too far because fear was the motivating factor.
Self control is appropriate in some cases, yet it’s so important to remind ourselves to check in, and to find the place of the middle way. To find balance.
If this doesn’t happen, attachment and extreme ways of thinking and behaving manifest with pain and struggle.
So, if this sounds familiar, using self control, self discipline, and mind control to move ahead in life, and you want to find balance, tired of pushing, and driving forward, I invite you to take some time, relax your mind, and find ways to come back to center, to the place where balance starts.
