The longer I walk this Earth the more deeply I understand that this life we live is the ultimate paradox and all of us are just trying to muddle our way through it. Most of the time, even if we consider ourselves to be fairly self-aware, we’re really only sleepwalking with momentary flashes of what could be considered true lucidity. We must be reminded, reawakened, time and time again from the semi-permanent state of amnesia we perpetually find ourselves in.
I find that it’s often the smallest of things that can serve as the delivery system for these lucid moments – a random thought, a strangely familiar scent, meaningful interaction with nature, perhaps even a quote that holds a certain gravitas. We so easily and often forget the universe itself is this conscious web of intelligence that we can interact with and even use as a tool to help us in our lives and our evolution. You see, the universe and life itself, these are our greatest teachers.
“I beg you, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
Whenever I find myself, “getting into the weeds” in my own life, or notice anyone else doing the same, it’s usually because of just a handful of reasons:
Overthinking.
Trying to Control (things that we shouldn’t be/can’t).
Lack of Faith (that everything will work out).
These things are the surest way to misery of the highest magnitude, the enemies of a happy and satisfying life. They blind us to the truth and tend to push us outside of our calm and peaceful center. This calm and peaceful center is where everything good and meaningful comes from -- good decisions, productive discussions, life balance, mutual resolution.
Such peace can be found in patience, working incredibly hard but also having the wisdom and faith to let things unfold naturally. Above all it helps to believe in serendipity, the age-old unplanned fortunate discovery. The first quote above was handed to me out of the blue on a scrap of paper by my barber halfway through my last haircut. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. Serendipitous indeed.
I was having a particularly tough day but it, rather he, was the delivery system for rousing me awake from my amnesia. In that singular moment I found myself back on track again, eyes wide open, blissfully awake. This moment was significant enough that I wanted to share it. Who knows, maybe this will be the delivery system for someone else who might read it at some point in the future?
As Lennon & McCartney wrote in their famous song lyrics, We all get by with a little help from our friends. We can extract lessons from almost everything. Sometimes when we're feeling particularly stuck or a little lost in life we must only live our ways to the answer.
Enjoy the day. Thank you for reading!
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