Hula Hoops and Control

Control.  We all want it.  We all think we have it.  We cling to this illusion in all the ways we can.  We bear down and birth the world the way we think it should be in blood and sweat and tears, yet reject what we create.  Or despair what we cannot.

I say we, when what I really mean is I.  

I heard someone say recently:

Place a hula hoop on the floor, step inside it.  Everything inside that hula hoop is what I can control. Everything outside, I have to let go.  With love.  With gratitude.  With recognition that we are all wandering around in our hula hoops with a world view of our own perception.   Some would say nothing is real.

When I remember that, I can live with a shrug and a smile.  I shrug off my need to control you, your opinions (most importantly your opinion of me) and your actions.  I smile.  For the inside of my hula hoop may not extend out, but does extend up to the heavens. (170)