The only way to know what awaits us is
to live it. – Mark Nepo
We can analyze and overanalyze all we want. We can worry, obsess and plan. But the bottom line is that we can not predict the future without actually experiencing it. Which makes it the present.
Everything that happens in our lives can be a teacher, if we let it. It can also embitter us. If we let it. But whether we like it or not, life happens. Events occur. People come and go, and so do pets, jobs, homes, money–everything is in constant flux.
Good stuff happens and bad stuff, too. That’s just the nature of life. It’s all in the experience of it. Which is why we must live it consciously.
One of our superpowers is that we can choose how we respond to life’s twists and turns in any way we like. We can rail against the fates or we can, as Baba Ram Dass suggests, view it all as part of the dance of life.
I can be as neurotic as the day is long and that is no joke. Sometimes, events seem larger than life. But after a while, even I get sick of myself. Of the constant worry and obsession. It’s only when I release my tight grip and relax into whatever is happening that life regains equilibrium. It’s empowering to get hold of the fact that I’ll be ok no matter what happens. I just have to remind myself of that. Sometimes repeatedly. And get into the flow of life.
Life is meant to be experienced fully. (And, I believe, to be used up. But that’s another story.)
EXERCISE. Today enter your life fully. Breathe into it. Let it play out without concern, knowing that your best interests are always the root. Yes, even when it doesn’t seem that way.
Maybe you know someone who is facing a tough health challenge or grieving a loss. I hope you’ll consider one of our beautiful gifts, which you can find right here.
Good stuff….bad stuff. Spoke today with a cousin who had a double mastectomy in December. The cancer was caught early, but the recovery from her two surgeries has been a long, painful process and she still struggles with many issues. Yet, she laughs with me every time I speak to her. I suspect she has learned to lean into her new life and relax, and take each day as it comes to the best of her current ability. Me, I’m still not quite like that, experiencing life fully.
That is an amazing attitude and so inspirational.
I get so sick of my own worry sometimes, I just walk away from it. Anxiety serves no purpose, but it’s a constant companion, especially these days.
Yes. It is a difficult time for many of us.
Yes, Carol! Get into life and experience it!
I once heard someone say, “It’s far better to wear out than to rust out.”
And I totally believe that. Good or bad, get out there!
Thank you for this reminder today!
I absolutely adhere to that…wear it out!
Good, good thoughts! Thanks for sharing via Midlife.
so glad you enjoyed them!