A Golden Opportunity

"If you realize that all things change,

there is nothing you will try and hold on to."

Tao Te Ching

If you have lived long enough, you already know the truth that nothing stays the same for very long, and everything in Life eventually changes and ends. This truth has never been more apparent than it is right now during this time of the Coronavirus Pandemic, as people have watched their lives radically change in countless ways, literally overnight. And no one has been spared from these changes, as all of us are now self-isolating (I like the word solitude better), and many have been laid off from their jobs, watched their 401's crash or even found themselves getting sick with the virus. On a more subtle level, many have watched their feelings of security and certainty about the future, replaced by feelings of fear, grief and anxiety about what might happen next, or whether things will ever return to 'normal'.

This challenging time has presented all of us with a choice to either embrace the reality of where we are right NOW, or to hold on to the past, and lose ourselves in increasing fear and worry about the future. If we look deeply, we have also been given a golden opportunity to see that, THIS moment is all we ever have, and to embrace the changes we are going through, knowing that they are happening for our, (and humanities), highest benefit.

Perhaps for too long, we have been asleep to what really matters, and have lived our lives caught up in the endless distractions of a world designed to keep us spending, consuming, lost in social media and asleep to who, and what we really are. Through Grace however, we have been forced to stop, slow down, and accept that some of the old ways in which we were living, and which were no longer serving us, are now changing, and are likely to never be the same again. Through embracing the chaos that this time presents to us, we have the sacred opportunity to spend our precious days on what really matters to us, and to let go of the frivolous activities that have, for too long, kept us living in a dream.

For many (though certainly not all), the changes they are going through will lead to a profound shift in how they view, not only themselves, but their work, their relationships and every aspect of their lives. In this, they will find the opportunity for new meaning in the ordinary moments of their day, and a deeper appreciation for the blessings that fill their lives. This will give birth to a new way of living that includes, not only the ability to flow through any changes that may come, but an inherent trust and surrender to the Universal Intelligence (the Tao), that is unfolding this play of Life.

The point is this; everything that happens is always the best possible thing that can happen, but only if we are willing to let go of our resistance to what is passing from our lives, and open to the gifts that every transition eventually brings. By embracing the truth that change is an inevitable part of Life, we free ourselves to actually enjoy and appreciate what is happening right Now (including the Pandemic), knowing that it will not last forever. In fully accepting that whatever comes eventually goes, and flowing with these changes instead of opposing them, we find ourselves aligned with the current and power of the Tao, and living with a greater joy and harmony in our lives.