Embrace your tragedies just as you would your fortunes

Have you felt helpless about everything at some time__ your Life, your work, your relationships, your health, your money? Or if you are feeling so just now, either about all those, and more, aspects, or perhaps about a few, simply surrender to Life. Totally accept what is. And let Life take over.

In fact, Life was always in control. It was your foolish ego that was making you believe and imagine that you were controlling your Life or were at least leading and directing it on your own accord. Your ability not to be able to control it in times such as this is a way of Life reminding you that you were never in control!

Trying to control Life is like trying to hold on to water in your clenched fist. The more you try to hold on, the more you will see it flow away. And the more empty you will feel. As your feeling of emptiness increases, so does your suffering.

A friend of mine lost his only child. I visited him to offer my condolences. We sat together for 45 minutes. He didn’t say anything. I didn’t either. Finally as I got up to leave, he burst out into tears and said: “I simply can’t understand Life. I just feel so helpless!” I had nothing to say to him. What could anyone say? No amount of consolation would be enough and would only seem hollow. Mere words in the face of Life’s deep, painful wound. A few months after this incident, another couple we know, lost their teenage son. He committed suicide. When we visited them, they appeared stoic but their pain was evident. Occasionally tears would run down. For some moments there would be silence. And in some others they would recall memories of their child. When we hugged the couple, and took their leave, they thanked us. And the husband, the father of the boy, said, “Who can change Life’s plan? I am not trying to make any meaning out of this. I have let go!”

Sorry for those morbid stories on a Sunday morning. But in them there’s a germ of a big Life learning. A person who understands Life will not try to understand it. He or she will be in a let go. Because Life was never in your control. Life was never offering any meaning. Or guarantees. Or solace. You imagined you were in control. You thought you understood Life. You believed because you were good and ethical, Life will treat you fairly. But Life never promised anything.

It is in Life’s dark moments and tragedies that we awaken. It is through pain that we can let go of suffering. It is in the darkness that we can truly appreciate the value of light. So embrace your tragedies just as you would welcome your fortunes. Because there simply is no other way. Every scripture points to this. Every painful Life experience leads to this learning. So let go. Surrender. And let Life, like always, take you to where you truly belong!