In religious studies today, my teacher briefly went over the idea of control in relation to the religion we're studying, which got me thinking, and since I couldn't say this in class I'll rant here.
He asked, "To what extent do you feel you have control over your life?".
We can't control our surroundings but we can control our actions which may affect our surroundings, for example if I decided to move to Alaska then I would change my surroundings entirely, and therefore do I have control of them? Yes, because I caused myself to be here? Or no, because I still can't control what happens to me, just where I am.
In reality though, I probably am not going to move to Alaska - I don't even know where it is, really. The reason I couldn't do this even if I wanted to is rules. I am not allowed to run away to random places with no warning; rules are set by my parents, my school, my society. They are a way to control, for control can be established through rules yet for those restricted by them, control is also taken away, or limited by rules. Leaders seek control, and they use methods like rules, punishments and rewards to achieve this. I live under lots and lots of rules everyday: Wear uniform, tuck my shirt in, don't talk when the teacher is - does this mean that I have very little control over my life? 301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHh2K1yDIoU
I do have the ability to break the rules, I have control over whether I follow them. I decide whether or not to wear my uniform, to tuck in my shirt, to be quiet when I'm supposed to. You could argue that in this setting, control and therefore rules are necessary - how will the students learn if they can't hear the teacher? If anyone can do whatever they want, what's to stop murderers? The very first laws were put into place to achieve control, then built upon and built upon and built upon and now very few people possess actual, complete control over what they do, what they say, how they act. But without this control, what would happen?
In conclusion, we can only control our actions in the present. Our actions in the present can affect our future, but we do not have direct control. We also do not control the situation we are in at present, we can only act to change how it will be in a few seconds, a day, a few weeks, a year. So... I kind of have control of my life?
I've just confused myself a lot, but I think I've gotten my point across.
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