I Have Been So Wrong About This...

“If we don't control our birth and our death, the beginning and the end of our story, what makes us think we'll have control over the events in the course of our existence?”

It’s a chilly, wet morning, and a man steps out of his home to head to the office. His workplace is less than a kilometer away, so he usually walks—unless he’s running late, in which case he takes his bike. Today, he decides to take a slow stroll to brainstorm a project idea.

Just a few minutes into his walk, there’s a loud bang. Sharp, excruciating pain shoots through him. Blood runs down his face as his eyes flutter half-open. He’s been hit by a car, and the next thing he remembers is losing consciousness.

When he comes to, he hears the beeping of machines. Voices murmur around him. “He’s stable,” someone says, “but we need to amputate his legs.” Tears start rolling down his face. The physical pain fades into the background, replaced by the emotional weight of what’s to come.

This man, however, would go on to become an Olympic-winning Paralympian.

But let’s take a moment to ask:

⇥ 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦-𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵? 𝘕𝘰.

⇥ 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬? 𝘠𝘦𝘴.

⇥ 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦? 𝘕𝘰.

⇥ 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰? 𝘕𝘰.

⇥ 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘨? 𝘕𝘰.

⇥ 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? 𝘠𝘌𝘚

The story shows us that while we can control some decisions—such as how we approach life—we cannot control everything. Life will throw challenges, uncertainties, and sometimes, overwhelming pain our way. And in those moments, what we do have control over is how we respond.

Do we let the uncontrollable derail us, or do we find strength in trusting the process?

I used to think we have a lot of control over our lives but we don’t. We live with the illusion of control. This is why most people have a huge mental breakdown when things don’t go as expected.

The percentage of our lives that we have control over is widely debated, but estimates often range from around 10% to 20%.

⇥𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙, 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙟𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨.

⇥𝘼 𝙨𝙪𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙪𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣, 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙙.

⇥𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙥𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨.

⇥𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙬𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩.

⇥𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙧, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙟𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜.

⇥𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙮𝙨 𝙞𝙩.

⇥𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙥𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨.

⇥𝘼 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙.

⇥𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙟𝙤𝙗𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨, 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙧𝙪𝙥𝙩.

⇥𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙮, 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙟𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚-𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙟𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨.

Even though much of life is determined by external events or genetics, the part we do control includes our actions, attitudes, and how we respond to life’s unexpected events.

The key is focusing on what you can influence, even if it's a small percentage, and letting go of what you can't control.

Simple not easy.

Ultimately, it’s important to focus on what is within our control—our mindset, our actions, and our perseverance—and leave the rest to God.

We may not be able to dictate outcomes, but we can always choose how we navigate the journey.

Cheers to you preparing ourselves to handle the unexpected by focusing on what we can control and letting go of what we have no control over.

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