Belief in personal control over circumstances that in reality lie beyond our control represents a second category of positive illusions. Locus of control is a well-known construct in psychology that refers to the more generic belief in how much personal control we have over life events, whether or not that belief is accurate.
Pierre MD, Joe. False: How Mistrust, Disinformation, and Motivated Reasoning Make Us Believe Things that Aren't True (pp. 18-19). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.
The second of the three lies we tell ourselves according to Joe Pierre in his book, False, is “I am master of my own fate.” People want to maintain control over their own life that’s why incarceration is a major form of punishment in just about all societies.
However, we learn in twelve step programs that the first step is “We admitted we were powerless over _____________- that our lives had become unmanageable.”
One of my favorite jokes is “If you want to hear God laugh, tell God your plans.”
When did you have to admit that your life was unmanageable and you couldn’t control things?
Wisdom is knowing what you can control and what you can’t. The concept is well known in twelve step meetings as the Serenity Prayer.
