Accepting Life As Is

Most of us are driven by fear without realizing it. Most of people strive for more money because they are afraid that they might end up financially miserable; some work very hard and run after status because they are afraid that otherwise no one will love them; some people eat healthy food and take really good care of their body because they are scared of getting sick; some people do lots of charity because they are afraid of going to hell after they die; some meditate all the time because they are scared to experience turbulence.

I am not saying that you shouldn't eat well, work hard, strive to be successful, or experience material abundance. Meditation, helping others, all of these activities are of course good. Just try to be aware what drives you and why you do things. Do these things out of love, not out of fear. Eat healthy because you love your body; work hard because you love your job; help people because you have so much love to share; meditate because you want to understand yourself and connect with your True Self.

Fear often drives our behavior, but unless you break free from it, you cannot experience love in it fullness. Fear always causes struggle and it drains your energy. Fear makes you zoom into the wrong aspects of life. You pay lots of attention to the goals you want to achieve and you shy away from all the emotions that you are afraid of. You want to control life, but you can't. The emotions you try suppressing come back to haunt you.

Instead, take life as it is - accept whatever comes your way and you and the Tao will be in harmony. Try to face every occurrence in your life; experience it without any fear or attempt to control anything and you will find out all the bad things you try to escape from will disappear like a passing dream.

The problem is that we always aspire to have sunshine but life doesn't work that way. We need the rain for our vegetation and our water supply. At home you may enjoy a rainy day with a good book, sitting next to the fire place. Likewise, if you truly accept your emotions, you will find a silver lining about everything. Also, remember that the emotion that gets you down sets you up for your next high.

Have you ever noticed that you accept happiness wholeheartedly?In contrast, your sadness and anxiety tend to stay longer because you never accept these emotions from the bottom of your heart. Experiment with this concept. Take everything as is, then you will taste the flavor of life. You will discover that your life is always blessed if you wholly accept it.

By Su-Zhen