Confession Number Two

A few weeks ago I heard Priscilla Knox Morrison on Midday Connection.  She was talking about this book and her own struggle with control "issues."  She is a pastor's wife with six now grown children.

Her descriptions resonated with me enough for me to order the book.  I have been reading it a chapter a day.  Boy "red flags" of control have been dropping all around me.  I really didn't realize I was a brown belt in being a control freak.  (Family, I can hear you laughing even with my increasing deafness!)

Here are some of the signs you might be a control freak:

• nagging others
• trying to orchestrate  outcomes
• butting into other people's affairs
• worrying about things beyond your control
• feeling anxiety about the future
• never feeling peaceful
• needing everything to be in perfect order

There are times when it is approrpriate to be controlling:

• when taking care of children, or the elderly, or you are responsible for other people
• when you are the chairperson of a committee
• when you need to take charge in an emergency
• when you are an employer managing a business
• when you are in an experimental laboratory and there must be strict control of conditions
• when it is a question of duty--military leaders, police officers
• when you are in church leadership
• when it is forced upon you by people who are too passive.

So what's a "control freak"?  We all know some and we avoid them.

• the mother who watches her child's every move
• the friend who tries to orchestrate a situation to his or her benefit
• the husband who wants to monitor his wife's every move
• someone who wants to make all the decisions with no input from others
• an acquaintance who continuously gives unsolicited advice

I don't know about you but some of these bullets were aimed square at me.  Since starting to be aware of my controlling ways, I see how embedded controlling others is in my life.  On my next blog  we'll go farther into this topic.

Do you think you have control issues?  Do you think you know someone who does?  Leave a comment!  (Oops....sorry I was being controlling :( )