I heard a joke that said, “You only need two tools in life: WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn’t move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn’t move and does, use the duct tape.”
There’s something to this redneck wisdom. We get stuck. Things should be moving, changing, progressing. If they aren’t, a sputter of WD-40 does the trick. Then there are things that should stay put. Habits of excellence. Solid character. But they don’t. New Year’s resolutions peel off by February. Priorities flutter away in a breeze of distraction. Aspirations burst like water pipes under circumstantial pressure. A little bit of duct tape would really help.
WD-40 and duct tape are control tools for good old boys. And the heart of our problem is control.
I mean the good kind of control, of course. We often think negative about control. Control freaks. Trying to control other people. I don’t mean this kind of control. I mean the good kind. A good choice. Fulfilling a commitment. Making a difference. To feel fully alive, we need control to make good things stick and bad things move.