The time to prepare yourself for life’s difficulties is not when you are in the midst of them. The time to prepare yourself for negotiating the twists and turns, the ups and downs, the ins and outs of life is right now. The specifics of this preparation are as varied as we are. But there is a constant that is useful to all of us. When preparation is absent, the difficulty is multiplied…and unnecessarily so.

What I am talking about is the practice of accepting the ebb and flow of life. You see, there is an ebb and a flow. Life is not a constant moving in a single direction. Just think about your life up to now. Ebb and flow, right?

If we expect certainty and guarantees, we will always be disappointed. If we expect that we’ll always get our way, well, surely not. If we expect perfection at every turn from everybody, including our own self…not gonna happen. Our preparation is the practice of accepting and learning to live in the ebb and flow of life.

Practice in every small thing. And when the big things happen, your practice will pay off. How? You will move with the ebb and flow instead of fighting it. You will have developed a wider view and a greater sense of ease in living, even in the midst of the most difficult stuff. You’ll remember…ebb and flow.

And so it is.
Paula