How would you ever know what life was capable of if you were always in control of it?
Where does the desire to control one’s experience come from?
These were the questions I was left with, as I concluded my morning walk.
As I walked into my apartment, I couldn’t help, but stop and think about my own relationship with wanting to control the outcome of any experience.
“Why do I want to control my experience? What is the motivation behind this desire?”
As some of you may know, I will be leaving for a year-long trip around the world in the upcoming months (I’ll be posting the itinerary before I leave, so we can connect in-person).
Part of this experience includes finding a tenant to reside in my apartment for the remainder of the lease.
So, over the past few weeks, I’ve been posting ads relentlessly, one after another, advertising the place (enough ads that even Facebook Marketplace had to intervene by temporarily blocking my ability to post and say, “Hold up! No need to post 50 ads per day. You’ve done enough. Let the experience unfold!”)
This experience, as well as listening to the “Surrender Experiment” helped me slow down and realize what I was doing.
I was trying to control the outcome of the experience.
Before I proceed, I believe it is important to note the following: the concept of “control” has a purpose.
In my case, controlling how much energy I put toward any given objective is important.
I don’t believe things just happen without any set intention or energy exchange (or maybe they do … How do I know? What about the sequence of events do I think I control?)
Over the past few days, I challenged myself to let things unfold on their own.
And the beauty of this experience began to emerge.
This morning, I found myself responding to numerous messages from possible tenants.
Some wanted to lease immediately.
The point of my message is not to discourage you from taking action in life.
Rather, let the outcome come, and at a time that it’s supposed to happen (take my words with a grain of salt, as I am simply learning from this experience just like you are).
