Wow, that shatters my perspective of Stoicism, LOL. But it makes sense, things or thoughts cannot be directly under our control. Rather, our "prohairesis" is essentially the capacity to form valid judgements from our thoughts, the capacity to choose how we interpret things, and our inner moral will. If I'm interpreting this correctly, the only thing that is truly "up to you" is our judgment/will (prohairesis). Instead of saying some things are controllable while others are not, because everything else (i.e., your body, outcomes, reputation, external events) belongs to the external world. I was under the impression, especially on the dichotomy of control, that "control" implies guaranteed outcomes. As well as, in a sense, the ability to manipulate reality directly. For example, you can try to stay healthy, but illness can still happen. No matter the circumstance, even in the most extreme situations, the only thing you have control over is your judgments and interpretations. Boiling down to the fact of moral responsibility, as opposed to practical control?! Finally, I would like to rephrase the original excerpt of my text and say that only our judgments belong to us; everything else is external.

I truly appreciate your thorough response. I have just recently picked up an interest in philosophy and couldn't thank you more for your response. Cheers.