ISSUES OF CONTROL:
By: Gabriela Yareliz
Greetings. I should be studying or sleeping. One of the two. Instead, I am here. The mind has been on a constant study roll. It’s incredible. My mind is like a giant pitcher with a bunch of Kool-Aid sloshing around. With the smiley face on it… Yeah, keep the smiley.
The days are filled with more appointments and responsibilities than I could possibly fit into a set of 24 hours. I guess that is what makes my life consistently interesting. So, life is interesting. I ended my flirtation with one type of social media. I’ve discovered that once I am over it, I am over it. One can’t really force oneself to be into something if one isn’t… so that ended. I hate that stupid social pressure that comes along with it, and the etiquette that tends to control people’s lives– it is just boring.
Control. It is something I don’t like about a lot of new technology, and also about certain people. Some people need to learn their place in life. There are people who try to impose themselves on others. People try to manipulate others with what they think are subtle tactics, but they are not subtle at all. It’s disturbing. Please take your manipulation and insecurities elsewhere.
People will say things, and mentally, it’s like: 
Then, you must audibly respond with:
And then, at the end of the conversation, when he or she realizes he or she can’t control the situation:
Bar prep has begun. Oh the joys. We are all reliving our first year of law school. It’s glorious. We are reciting scandalous hypotheticals, reviewing legal concepts and praying a man who is not as promiscuous as George Clooney (but just as handsome) finds us. Bar prep will have control over a lot of us for months, whether we like it or not.
I am very observant. And through observation, I learned that a quote by Marisa de los Santos has some truth to it; she says, “I don’t think love is blind, but wanting to be in love, that’s probably blind.” I saw that in full color this week. Sometimes, that desire to be loved makes people forget their worth and what they really want in their lives. Sometimes, it leads people to want to control, or allow others to control their circumstances.
Hmm… The things we do, say, and try.
The biggest lesson of all is that we are all independent agents who choose. You can’t force someone to like you; you can’t force someone to respond to you; you can’t force someone to value you; you can’t force someone to love you; and you can’t control people. Letting go is really for the best.
People need space. Many times, people make up their minds about relationship issues before they even think they have their minds made up, and they show it in their actions and attitudes. And if they don’t have their minds made up, an act of manipulation can change things and make up their mind, quick.
People don’t own each other. They don’t; and they shouldn’t.
I think you can seldom respect something you can manipulate in every which way.
Be free, and let others be free.
[Images from Tumblr and BuzzFeed]
GABRIELA YARELIZ 