I thought control was strength.

Keeping my emotions locked down. Keeping my mouth shut. Keeping everyone convinced I had it handled.

Control made me feel safe. It made me feel powerful. It made me feel like nothing could touch me. But control never healed me. It just delayed the damage.

Control is often fear wearing a suit. It looks disciplined on the outside, but inside it’s exhausted from holding everything back. Anger, shame regret, grief. All of it sitting under the surface, waiting for the wrong moment to leak out.

Healing didn’t start when I got better at controlling myself. It started when I got honest about what was actually going on inside me. Honest about being tired. Honest about being angry. Honest about not having it all figured out.

Men don’t need more control. We need safer places to tell the truth.

If this hit you, you’re in the right place.
This is The Stronghold.

Where am I using control to avoid honesty?

What emotion am I keeping locked down because it feels unsafe to admit out loud?

If I stopped trying to manage everything and told the truth instead, what might change in my relationships, my leadership, or my peace?

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