In the midst of all the commotion in our lives at the moment, we constantly find ourselves trying not to become too attached to outcomes. At the moment, this thinking mostly revolves around not only the close of escrow of our possible new house in Lake Arrowhead but also getting attached to the “idea” of the life we will lead if we do move to the lake.
We are happy now. A house will not make us happier. A certain kind of life will not make us happier. Change is exhilarating and exciting but once the dust settles, lives generally go back to “normal”. Living with expectations that once we have this or once we have that, THEN we will be happy, is the surest way to become exactly the opposite. This is something we’re told as we are growing up… something that we read through in fairytales and morals of stories and absentmindedly agree to when we hear quotes like “the grass is always greener” — but it’s something that is really difficult to grasp until you’ve lived long enough to actually be on the other side of it and see the difference for yourself. Though if you never take the time to look, you never learn it either.
I have been SO sure about SO many things in my life that have ended exactly the opposite of how they where “supposed to be” {having a baby, and becoming a mother, for example } I’ve learned that in this life, you can never be too sure of anything at all. It’s a lesson I learn every year, if not every day, that is just so easy to forget, it clearly has to slap me across the face repetitively just to get its point across. I get it… I truly do… but it doesn’t make it any easier to stop myself from getting lost in romanticizing “what ifs” and decorating our “new house”… so here is a little reminder for you and for me.
To be without desires, is to be content.
If you do not wish to have something,
you are content with what you have.
And it always seems to me that,
the more we don’t desire something,
the greater the chance of getting it,
and all the more exciting.
To be without desire,
is to be simple.
If life is simple,
then life is not complicated.
~ Lao Tzu
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
~ Lao Tzu
