The Essential Nature of an Internal Locus

What do you think of when you hear the term, 'internal locus?' And no, that doesn't mean that I just ate a chocolate covered grasshopper! Locus is the correct term -- in Latin it means 'place.' In psychology, it is used in conjunction with having an internal or external locus of control. Every time I say it, I confess that I do tend to visualize a grasshopper -- and frankly, I'd rather have one on the outside of me! However, after living through the 1980's plagues of grasshoppers in Saskatchewan, I did NOT do well with the grasshoppers hitting the side view mirror on the car, propel through the open window and come zinging down the front of my shirt at 80 kilometres an hour! Nor did I do well with making my way through them (roughly 80 grasshoppers per sidewalk block) whilst wearing a dress and nylons on the way to work! (And did you know that nylons serve as a perfect net for catching hold of grasshopper feet?!?!?) Okay...now I'm getting shivers! Post-Traumatic Grasshopper Disorder kicking in!

I digress -- Locus of Control. Let's look first at the external locus of control. An external locus of control is where the determining factors for your choices come from outside sources. Picture a circle with a dot in the middle. You are the dot! Now imagine a bunch of arrows coming from the outside toward the centre/the dot. This is what an external locus looks like. These arrows represent different people or pressures -- trying to define what you are supposed to be like/do, etc. The problem with an external locus of control is that the person in the middle never knows for sure what they are supposed to be or do -- they keep morphing and masking, trying to please everyone in his/her life. This is a recipe for depression and anxiety. "Who do you want me to be?" is a common question here, and there is no anchoring point. The 'dot' in the middle gets pushed around and pressured by the external pressures/sources.

An internal locus of control looks different on a directional basis. Here the arrows go outward from the centre/the dot. The person defines from the inside out what kind of person they want to be/choose to be. They decide what kind of things they value, how they perform as an employee/student/professional, what kind of friend they are, how they want to interact with their parents or spouse, what they determine to be a priority, what energizes them, etc. The internal locus has an anchoring point. It assumes personal responsibility, which is something easily avoided through blaming in the external locus. The internal locus of control enforces personal choice and responsibility, which ultimately leads to wholeness.

An internal locus feels different than an external locus.  It is like the difference between driving your own life so that you end up where you want to go verses being in the passenger seat and allowing other people in your life to drive and determine where you end up. From a faith perspective, imagine yourself in the driver's seat and God helping you navigate (He's better than On-Star!). The ultimate form of health and wellness is an internal locus of control, anchored in the truth of who you are in Christ -- cemented in the truths found in Scripture. And frankly, it's a whole lot more fun to drive!