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If you’ve been waiting for the perfect day, the perfect week, or the perfect version of you before you finally begin, I want you to hear this: that day isn’t coming. Today we’re talking about control, why it feels so safe, and how it might actually be keeping you from the life you’re trying so hard to manage.

Episode Summary

In this episode of The Rise Experience, we’re starting a new month-long conversation about control. Not just the big, obvious control, but the quiet kind that shows up in your planning, your overthinking, and the way you keep telling yourself, “I’ll do it when things slow down.”

I talk about why our nervous systems reach for control when life feels like too much, how that spills into coaching, accountability, and structure, and how it slowly turns into this identity of being “the one who has it together.” We also sit with Matthew 6:34 and talk about what it really means to stop dragging tomorrow into today, without pretending you don’t have real things to take care of.

If you’re tired of waiting for the perfect moment and feel like you’re always managing your life instead of living it, this episode will help you notice where control is running the show and give you one simple place to begin shifting that.

Key Takeaways

• What control really is and why your body keeps reaching for it
• How control shows up in everyday ways: perfect-day thinking, overplanning, overthinking, all-or-nothing
• Why overthinking is often just anxiety trying to keep you safe
• How “being the woman who has it together” can quietly become your whole identity
• How support and accountability can start to feel like being watched instead of being helped
• A steadier way to hear “do not worry about tomorrow” from Matthew 6:34
• One simple practice for this week: notice where you’re waiting for perfect conditions before you even begin

Episode Chapters

00:00 – Why July is all about control
04:39 – When support starts to feel like someone is checking up on you
09:25 – The quiet ways control shows up all day long
14:02 – What constant control is really costing you
16:10 – Matthew 6:34 and a small step for this week

Memorable Quotes

Follow The Rise Experience and share this episode with one friend who is exhausted from trying to keep everything perfectly in place.

Connect with Shannon:

Your next step… https://msha.ke/risewithshannon

Read the blog… https://www.risewithshannon.blog/

FB: Shannon Bell Denniston

IG: @risewithshannon

About the Podcast

The Rise Experience is a podcast for women of faith who are done starting over and done pretending everything is fine. Each week, I show up with real talk, scripture, and simple reflection to help you move through transition, shift old patterns, and live with more steadiness, purpose, and presence right where you are.

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