In Control

Young men, foolish and filled with bravado,
actually believe that they can be in control,
that their life will follow their carefully made plans.
This belief provides comfort, fills them with hope
to achieve their life’s work, to persevere.

Yet, this sense of control is but a sham.
For Man controls only a small portion of his fate.
Blind luck and circumstance are empowered
to override our ability to control our own destiny
at their capricious whim.

No seat belt, no child restraint chair, no amount
of careful driving may be able to save your child
if Fate has placed you in the path of a drunken driver.
No amount of career planning and maneuvering
will protect you from company takeover and
your being downsized at age fifty.
Nothing can save you from an attack by Nature
in the form of a direct hit by a tornado or
a category five hurricane...all your life’s
accumulation of possessions lost in minutes.
Exposure to a microscopic germ can sicken you,
even kill you, in a matter of days.
Every day circumstances unseen and unknown
may miss by mere seconds derailing your plans.
Where is your control?

So, why does Man persist in his belief that he
exercises control over his life? To acknowledge
that he is buffeted about by the whim and whimsy
of sheer dumb luck leaves him feeling powerless
and disheartened. Besides, he must strive to live
life as best he can. He has to attempt control
out of necessity. A wise man makes his plans,
then hopes and prays that greater events do not
intervene and squash his efforts. A wise man
lives in recognition of his true vulnerability
and lack of control…yet lives in perpetual hope
that Fate will treat him kindly.

ASIN: 1411629272	Gilleland Poetry: Storoems and Poems     Product Type: Book
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