An Ancient Philosophical Idea: “The Dichotomy Of Control”

“Some things are within our power, while others are not,” wrote Epictetus, the Greek Stoic, in a line we’d be justified in dismissing as obvious, if it weren’t for the fact that we ignore its ramifications every day, and suffer as a result. In every situation, there are things we can control and things we can’t, and struggling to control the latter is a recipe for anxiety and stress. “Partial control”, like the kind we have, say, over our 3 year-old’s behaviour, can be broken down into two: we usually have total control over what we say or do; and none, technically, over how he or she reacts.