Control vs Power

Over the last several weeks I've noticed the return of a feeling I enjoy.

Now you may think that feeling is one of control. After all, moving is a very chaotic experience. It ranks up there on the list of things that most of us don't enjoy. I've had more than one friend comment on how out of control a move can make them feel.

In the world of weight oriented fitness, control is often set out at the end goal. Folks want to be in control of their life.

Thing is, control is an illusion. In reality, there are very few things that we are ultimately able to control. Control is about trying to wrestle situations to fit your operating parameters. You want to exert influence over the world around you. Often people with weight to lose comment on feeling out of control. So they compensate by locking down and trying to regulate all aspects of the world they live in.

That's not so easy to do. Your ability to control the world around you is rather limited. You can't force your coworkers to never bring pizza in to work. You can't force other drivers on the road to signal when they change lanes. You can't make it rain in the middle of a drought. Over time the small things that you can't control will start to grate on you. It often turns into a fight. You are forcing your body to do what you want it to, even when the old body isn't so keen on the idea. Over time, your body and mind start to rebel. It starts out with the voices in you head saying, "it's okay to skip your workout today. No biggie." Then it moves to eating three slices of pizza in one sitting, washed down with a beer. Each small slide erodes the control that has been imposed on your life.

Control for me has always symbolized locking something down. You are forcing the system to work your way or else. The problem is, at some point in time you run into a situation you can't lock down and control.

In this situation, you either start to fall apart, or you start looking for a new approach. That new approach is power.

Power is another way of influencing the world around you, but it's also about transferring energy. In physics, power is work done. It's proactive, and constantly in motion. It's taking energy and directing it.

Control is something external, and something that can be taken from you. Power is something you can always generate. A key life transition is understanding that you shift from controlling the world around you, to generating power to move yourself forward.

I can't control the actions of the driver next to me. I do have the power to change my direction so the idiot doesn't hit me. I can't control the coworker who brings in pizza. I have the power to say no thank you.

Power isn't something that can be taken away from you. You make a choice to give it up. You can also chose to reclaim it. It's a simple matter of deciding to transfer your energy from one area to another. The feeling I reclaimed last week wasn't control. It was power. It's power that I've built daily, year in and year out. It's something that never leaves me. At any moment in time I can push forward in a new direction.

I'll never lose control because my life isn't about control. It's about generating power to take me forward.