Control

I have an issue with things I cannot control - more specifically, I have an issue with compensating for the things that I cannot control.

There are a great many things I feel that I have no control over in my life.  In fact, these things seem to fill my day every day.  Events I cannot control, things I cannot make happen, tasks that I cannot turn aside from - every day and every week, a life full of that which is not controllable.

My solution?  To find those things that I can control in my life - and do those.

The issue, of course is that generally such things are not good for one.  They run from the fairly benign (shredding my nails in frustration) to the not really good for me (binging).  They have consequences of course, consequences that I cannot avoid - but I do them anyway.

Why?  Because they are the things that I can control.  They are the things that I can choose or not choose to do (and generally they fall into the "choose category for me) because they are the things that I have power over.   I cannot turn away the task at work that is useless but no-one else will do it.  I can choose to eat or not eat a sugar laden snack.

I am not sure how to remedy this.  The easy answer is "find ways to take more control of more things in your life" - but that seems about as useful telling a penguin to fly:  without the ability to do so the thing becomes impossible.  Yet exerting control in these small things does not do anything for me either - the behaviors are at best not good for me and they do not really solve my underlying problem.

What I want to say the solution is is to find those things that I can control even in the uncontrollable situations and build on those.  I think that is the correct answer - but it does not feel like it resolves anything.  How do I find a sense of moving forward in the midst of small tasks in the midst of larger items?

A thought to ponder for the day:  Are all situations truly beyond my control?  Or is just some?  And if some, why or why not?