Day 18 of 30 Days, 30 Posts - Control
Got it handled!
When we feel we are in control, we gain a sense of security, stability, and empowerment. To be in control of something is to have a good grasping on it. To grasp and to handle is another way of saying, "to comprehend". Before we can make use of our newfound power, we must first understand it in order to successfully employ it. This can only happen through testing, trying, and experimenting.
Power is desire, and to subdue that power, we must pass through the trials of temptation. Temptation comes from Latin's temptare, which means to feel, to influence, to handle, and to test. Whenever we gain a new advantageous position, our own might, inner resolve, will be tried before we can "come to grips" with our inheritance.
"Every level has a new Devil."
To do so, we must restrain ourselves through self-discipline. All power and authority must be restricted if it's to have any real application. Abusing power ultimately leads to instability, upset, and disorder (a total lack of control). Harmonious flow with internal and external forces is how we achieve mastery over any situation. We slay the beast through cooperation with it. True will power rolls with the punches by working with, and not against, change.
To put something to use is to utilize, harness, wield, manipulate (Latin for manipulus, meaning handful), and control it. The wand symbolizes the Will. Wands also represent the element of fire, energy, or spiritual force. A person held responsible for a situation has been put in charge. This person takes initiative and sets boundaries by proposing and enforcing rules and laws. Those under rule that disobey the law are likely to be criminally charged.
To charge into something is to exert a violent force of opposition. This is done so in an attempt to gain power and control over an opponent. To feel fully recharged is to be energetically renewed. To charge a device is to electrically empower it.
Power, impulse, desire, and e-motion—they're behind all of our motives. It's important that we learn how to not act or react impulsively. A little introspection can go a long way if we are to come to terms with our unconscious impulses. Many of us are driven and controlled by unruly desires and emotions. This lack of self-restraint often leaves a path of chaos and destruction in its wake.
An unpleasant emotion isn't necessarily good or bad. Negative emotions, properly understood, can find healthy expression. We can get to their roots by talking them out with an unbiased party. We can let go of them by crying. Or we can channel them into art, music, or some other creative pursuit. Likewise, an excessive desire for pleasure isn't necessarily healthy either. We can obsessively want someone we can't or shouldn't be with (example: Extramarital affairs). Forceful optimism can also repress other emotions that need to find an outlet.
We should never ignore our emotions or our desires, regardless of the dark forms they may take. They, too, need to be integrated. To be out of tune with oneself is to be in a state of disharmony (lack of control). We don't have to act/react on an impulse to embrace (hold onto, enclose, control, integrate) it. By becoming aware of our desires, we gain loving mastery over them.
"An unconscious Eros always expresses itself as a will to power." - Carl Jung
This concludes today's article for my 30 Days, 30 Posts challenge. Tomorrow's article will be on Growth. Yesterday's article was about Weight Loss.