If judgment is the first split,
control is the armor we build in response.

Once we learn something is “bad,” we try to stop it.
Once we believe something is “good,” we try to keep it.
This is where control enters.

We grow up believing we’re supposed to be in control.
Of our thoughts. Our emotions. Our actions. Our outcomes.

We punish ourselves when we can’t.
We blame others when they don’t.

We tighten. We strive. We suffer.

But stop for a moment…

Did you choose your next thought?
Did you decide to feel what you're feeling right now?

When you really look - honestly, quietly -
you’ll start to see that control isn’t what we think it is.

It’s a story. A survival instinct. A line of code.

It says: “If I can control this, I’ll be safe.”

But that safety never really comes, because the truth is…

You were never supposed to be in control.

And when we start to see through it…
Guilt softens. Blame dissolves. Compassion begins.

“You didn’t come here to make the choice. You’ve already made it. You’re here to try to understand why you made it.”