CONTROL—everybody wants it. My husband, God love him, is a little bit of a control freak (she said nicely and with love), but in a good-hearted way. Me, I might be borderline, but hey, I know what I want and I usually want it right away. 🙂 My sweet dog, Bella, is even on that spectrum – she is maybe more of a manipulator than control freak though. But, the cat, my handsome Russian Blue, Buzz, – he’s in control. This main man pretty much runs the show.
There’s all kinds of control—birth, appetite, acne, pest, gun, and self, to name a few. But the word “control,” well, sometimes that can get sticky. We all know that when control becomes forceful it can become a dangerous thing. That’s another subject for another blog.
Speaking for myself, the older I get, I strive to lesson control or at least try to stop 
worrying that I’ve already lost it in so many aspects of my life. I’ve accepted that there are way too many things of which I have absolutely no control. Let’s see – hurricanes, storm surges, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, summers that are too hot, winters that are too cold, oh and did I say, hurricanes?
So if I pretend I’ve got a nice, shiny, new black remote control for life in general, what would I put on those all important buttons? Mine would have to a multi-colored buttons. A red one for peaceful solutions to our country’s problems; another one for the world. Green for patience. Blue for empathy. The purple one would make me do the right thing even if I hesitate or have doubts. A yellow one would cure diseases that take away our loved ones too soon. The extensive list would make my remote control too heavy to carry, and it certainly wouldn’t fit on my coffee table.
How about you? What buttons would be on yours?
Today, my own personal remote is not so complicated.
- I’d push TOOLS. It would immediately heal my post-surgery shoulder. It’s taking way too long, and I have things to do, hair to blow dry myself, tall shelves to reach, books to write, etc.
- Next, the button that says CANCEL would convince my husband to retire (that’s wishful thinking).
- The ENTER button would allow me to complete this post today. (I think I can handle that one.)
- And, lastly, I’d press PLAY so I could eat a hot fudge sundae with real vanilla ice cream, and a warm and gooey chocolate brownie. Okay, I went way off track here a little. I can’t even get that luscious dessert near my mouth for I’m Dairy, Gluten and a whole lot of other Free’s.
I do consider myself a strong woman. I try not to dwell on regrets of the past anymore, but I love to wallow in the bliss of the todays that I’m given, and I pray and hope for lots more tomorrows. So if you’re anything like me, you sit back and sometimes (I said sometimes) hand over the imaginary remote control. You might do it with a smirk, a whimper or a frown, but you do it anyway. What does that girl say in the song from the movie, Frozen? “Let it go . . . .”
In my newest novel, two women friends think their lives are set until one of them opens a old can of worms forcing life to spin out of control for both women. There’s that CONTROL word again.
In October, we’ll see what’s on the horizon for Guest Blogger, Author, Linda Joyce.
Thanks for stopping by,
Jody
Jody Herpin 
Loved this, Jody!