Control and Mastery

The way out -- and that's the only thing I'm interested in talking to you about -- is to see that any revisiting of what happened last night or what is a pattern of mine that happens all the time or what is the story of mine that I get it intellectually but it's not permanent or whatever -- that all of that is a story that's simply arising right now. . . The reason we tell stories like this is because we want to have mastery over them. We feel like there's no way to end the suffering without some control and some mastery -- that's how we've done everything else in our lives, control and mastery. So if you don't talk to me about how this suffering occurs for you and I don't help you find a way to master it and control it, then it's not doable. This is what our mind tells us. - Annette Nibley