Who’s In Control?

There is a phenomenon that seems to plague us all, and yet we don’t often talk about it, in so many words. It’s what has been called “The Paradox of Control.” In a nutshell, the paradox is that while you believe you are in control, you are not. The moment you gain true control, you see that you really have none to begin with — at least not the kind you imagined. This is rooted in the fact that you perceive control to be something you possess outside of yourself, and completely ignore the real control you have, which is inside of yourself.

In the hours after the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan, the White House was in turmoil. The President’s precise condition was not yet fully known. The Vice President was on a plane over Texas, and the press wanted answers. In the line of succession to the Presidency that day, as it is today, was the Vice President, the Speaker of…