Life is a journey that is meant to be
In my last column, “Recognizing Resistance” found in the March 22, 2018 edition of this paper, I explain how our negative thoughts create the pain of emotional and physical resistance in our bodies. Negative thoughts are like the air underneath a parachute: the larger the parachute, the more air resistance, or drag the parachute encounters. Of course, you want a certain amount of air resistance underneath your parachute to slow you down after you jump out of an airplane. But you don’t want to lose the fun of the jump by adding drag from your thoughts of fear and regret as you free fall to the earth. Otherwise why jump?
Your thoughts are like the air under the parachute of your mind. The more you let your thoughts drag you down, the more resistance you create in your body which creates unneeded stress and pain. The more you take things as they come, the more you flow with life. Just look at this past Sunday. It was a White Easter as children bundled up in coats and gloves and hunted for their eggs in the snow. The kids didn’t think it was a drag to fight the wind and the cold to get their treats. They just went out and had fun!
I got caught in the Easter wintry mix. It took me almost two hours to travel 45 miles on I-70 West from Concordia, Missouri to Kansas City because of the ice and snow. I, along with countless other travelers, were driving bumper-to-bumper. But I had fun! The way I looked at it, Hell froze over on Resurrection Day!
Because I went prepared with more than enough gas in my car and plenty of time to get home, I was able to stay calm and just enjoy the ride. I am sure that if anyone looked at me, they would have thought I was crazy as I was singing to the radio and laughing. What else should I have done? Execute the death grip on my steering wheel and freak myself out with thoughts of running off the road or hitting someone? Taking our time driving was the best thing for all of us! And it gave me a moment to really think about the true meaning of Christ and Resurrection Day: the freedom to learn from our mistakes without all the blame and guilt!
You lose out on the fun when you get caught up in your thoughts and resist what “is.” When you remove resistance, you can accept things as they come. Living without resistance is like listening to your favorite music. You don’t question it or judge it. You certainly don’t criticize it. You simply let the music flow into your ears and you enjoy it.
Let go of believing that there are only certain ways of doing things and start living life accepting that everything is meant to be…even things we do not want to happen. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a Swiss-American psychiatrist and conceptual author of the stages of grief found in her book, On Death and Dying, wrote, “Learning life’s lessons is not about making your life perfect, but about seeing life as it was meant to be.”
We can learn from all things that come our way…if we choose to. We cannot control the weather. We cannot control birth or death. And we certainly should not be trying to control each other with our actions and our opinions. Life was not meant to be easy. But life becomes easier when we stop throwing fits when things don’t go our way. Life is meant to be an amazing journey, like listening to beautiful music. Every life event is meant to be. Your reaction to the life event is your choice. So be okay with what life brings you. The time is now to live in the moment that was meant to be.
Mother Owl.
