Have you noticed that things don’t always go your way? I mean they always don’t work out the way you thought, hoped or planned. Life is full of twists and turns and of best made plans. If you are in the middle of one of these experiences you may be nodding your head, agreeing. If your life is humming along, you might be remembering when it wasn’t so smooth.
When I think about plans for how my life should be or how it should look, they don’t include obstacles, struggles, setbacks, adjustment periods, letting go, waiting or failure. They often don’t take into account lost luggage, reservations or credit cards…realistically or metaphorically. Plans are totally up-ended when someone is diagnosed with a terminal illness or dies…especially without warning. There are a myriad of side-tracks to getting that degree, completing new training or getting another job. Did I mention ice storms, snow storms and wind storms? Is there any such thing as a straight-line way of living and being?
No, I think not. I think we just need to get used to the curves. Even though they aren’t something we plan for, we should know they are coming. We have a lot of evidence that they do…so why not expect that eventually we will come upon one on our road of life.
Expecting the curve is not about living in fear or trying to avoid the curve…it is about doing the internal work of not attaching to the temporary stuff that gets jostled as we negotiate the curve. The pain and discomfort that comes from being in the curve arises from our attachment to the way life is supposed to be and what it is supposed to look like…in other words how we planned for it to be.
We are wise to notice that everything is temporary. This wisdom points us to live directly in the current moment. This moment is the only thing we can count on…even in the curve.
Peace always
Paula
