Today we ask that you trust the flow of life.
Trust the flow of life.
Everywhere you look when it comes to life, you perceive rhythms and tides.
Spring, winter, summer, fall.
Day and night.
The waxing and waning of the moon.
The rising and falling tides.
Life is born. Life dies.
That is how it is, in your reality. It is a reality defined by changing states.
There are many causes of mental suffering for humans. But one of the greatest causes of such suffering is the human tendency to cling to that which must inevitably pass.
If you live long enough, you will grow old, and die. This is true for everything in a physical body. It is inescapable.
Babies are born, grow into children, become adolescents, and then adults. It is inescapable.
It is natural to feel grief when things change and pass away. It is natural to feel sadness when things come to an end.
But with every ending, comes a new beginning.
And so the healthy human being does not linger too long in that which has already passed. Or worse, cling to or attempt to prolong states which desperately need to pass.
A parent cannot keep his child a baby. Attempting to do so will harm the child.
When someone is very sick or elderly, prolonging life past the point of any joy is harmful.
When an aging man or woman tries to artificially maintain youth, this is harmful.
Clinging to relationships that have reached their natural end is harmful.
The day cannot stop the night. Summer cannot stop the fall and winter.
Acceptance of this is not only wisdom, but the key to peace.
The most miserable people in all the world are those who cling to a past that is long dead and gone. The aging person bitter over lost youth. The parent who cannot accept that his child has grown up. The person clinging to a relationship that ended years ago.
If you wish to be miserable, that is the way to live.
If you wish for peace in this life, you must find a better way.
The happiest people in the world are those who embrace reality as it is. Those who embrace change.
Such people still experience sadness and grief over loss and passing. But — they do not linger there. They do not cling.
Life is a book with many chapters. When a chapter ends, that does not mean the book is over. It means it is time to begin a new chapter.
Youth, middle age, old age — these are just different chapters of life. Each one has its dramas, its highs and lows.
While people tend to believe that youth is superior to old age, in practice this is not necessarily so. Many young people are terribly unhappy. Many people find more peaceful minds with maturity. Nothing is fixed.
One of the main things to learn in this lifetime is how to let go gracefully.
This is not an easy skill to master. It requires a great deal of practice.
Children have a very hard time letting go of things: toys, food, turning off the TV show. They feel loss very acutely, often over things that are quite trivial, from an adult perspective.
One of the best things a parent can do is model for children how to let go of things, even when there is sadness.
Letting go is a practice, and an art. It does not come naturally. It is an acquired skill.
You acquire this skill only when you make a conscious effort to acquire this skill.
This may happen when, at last, you decide that you do not want to experience so much mental suffering triggered by the inability to let go of things.
So practice this skill in your daily life. Find little ways to let things go. The dispute with the co-worker. The need to possess this or that thing. The need to win something or prove something.
If you acquire skill at letting go of the little things, you will be much better equipped when it is time to let go of the big things.
One chapter ends, another begins. One book is over. Time to start a new book.
If you wish to experience peace in this life, this is a good place to begin.
wordfromthewell 