It ain’t easy, especially when we fall into a couple habitual methods of coping and constantly overlook the one big, beautiful solution that’s always staring us right in the face.
The main way we automatically deal with all the craziness is also probably the most difficult (…of course); that is, by hearing and seeing and reacting to all the information that assails us – sometimes every minute, every instant. We see something or hear something and get swept up by a fear or a desire, or a feeling of immediate need: Something bad is happening, or somebody is doing something wrong. I feel like I need to stop something from happening, or to make something important happen…or, I might immediately start to feel hopeless about something I have no control over.
In this automatic way, our well-being is conditioned by emotional reactions to perceived challenges we see or hear. Our effectiveness can be stifled, or our anxieties can run amok, simply because of the emotional state we suddenly find ourselves in. Life feels hard, when we just react to it.
The next way we deal is the way that does tend to come next for most of us – we start to really give it some thought. We get past the knee-jerk reaction and begin to look and listen less with our eyes and ears, and more with our mind, like: What is this really going to mean to me? How does it actually affect me, my interests, and my loved ones? What will it do to my plans, wishes, hopes, dreams – and what can I really do about it?
While it’s always better to stop and give everything some serious thought, we can hit a few more potholes by doing so. We can get stuck believing that what we think is who we are. We may find ourselves thinking more about the future, and then about the past – about what we want to have happen or what has happened before – and not enough about what is happening now. Rationalizations, justifications and confirmations (the need to be right), resentments, uninformed conclusions – blind spots we’ve developed over a lifetime can rise up and prevent us from doing the next best thing. We can get trapped by our brain, with our thoughts circling madly, blocking us from any real solutions.
Fortunately, there is a beautiful, easy solution alive in every moment: Instead of getting caught up in seeing, feeling, and thinking, take a deep breath, relax, and just be. Just be right who you are, where you are, and let all the craziness fall away like a bad, poorly-fitting outfit. Don’t see with your eyes, hear with your ears, or think with your brain – see, hear, and think with your spirit, gratefully and compassionately detached from the constant human noise.
You’ll find you’re not foolishly disconnected, but that you’ve suddenly got a different, much healthier perspective on all the craziness. Life isn’t a hard, anxiety-laden ordeal…it’s just Life. It’s just the way it’s always been, and always will be…and that’s just what we need. The horrors are still unacceptable, the celebrations are still too short, but Love, the expansion of your consciousness, your spiritual growth into your sense of purpose and belonging-to will be steady and dependable (that’s faith), and ground you in a grace that that makes you much more joyful, responsible, and effective.
If you find yourself paddling too hard upstream, turn around.
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