One of the things we need to get used to in life is it never stays the same. Humans trick ourselves into believing we can get to a place where everything will be exactly as we dream. Perfect job, perfect relationship, perfect health, and perfect life. Unfortunately, anyone with any experience knows life will never be perfect. Even if you are fortunate enough to find some excellent moments, in some areas, they are continually shifting into something else, some other experience. I know I have built attachments to jobs, relationships I have been in, and activities I took part in. I was in a constant struggle to create stability in my life. I figured that if I found a place in the world where I fit, then that part was over. I could relax, and I understood that my job, relationship, or situation and good for me.
The problem is that the Universe does not work in a static state. Things are constantly in motion, and the way anything is today will be different tomorrow. There is no way to gain absolute stability because the ground under your very feet will shift, and the solid foundation you thought you were standing on is only loose, moving sand and causing you to scramble and change your perspective, place, and ideas. If all of this makes life a scary proposition or a never-ending adventure is up to your choices of thought and understanding of your attachments.
Attachments to Other People
Knowing things are constantly changing can make relationships a dicey experience. I think it is too easy to get lost in something going well. Once you attach yourself to how things are, they stop being great spontaneously and become something you take for granted. Because you are connected to the way, things are. A friend of mine recently observed, “It seems less likely that an actual, perfect long-term relationship will exist.” I thought about it for a minute and had this conclusion.
Positive long-term relationships can exist and do exist all the time. One of the truths about life, though, is that at some point, all relationships, even the best and most powerful, will end. That is life.
The secret is not building an attachment to anyone the way a person or a relationship can be because it is all just shifting sand under your feet. Giving a person the room to grow and be an individual on their journey is essential as you move through your transitions and changes life will inevitably push you through. Each moment is given to you to be treasured at that time. A great day is a great day, and even though you wish it would never end, the sun will set, and time will move on into another day. It may be great too, but it will be different, and you will not be able to enjoy that new experience if you have your thoughts and feelings clinging to the events of the “perfect” day that is gone by. Living in this moment is the only thing you can do. Make this another “great day.” Two people living in sync with that attitude can make life excellent and enjoyable. You are enjoying the changes the shifting sands bring and making each enjoyable and memorable.
A Job is Just an Activity
One area people are programmed throughout life is the activity they choose to contribute to society. Our jobs focus on our early life as we choose an educational path to get the position we want. Then we pursue that career and attain success or move in another direction. You have been working so long to become that doctor, lawyer, business owner, teacher, engineer, mechanic, or whatever you wanted to become that you become attached to that position. Your
identity is wrapped up in what you do to make money. If you don’t think so, one of the first questions someone asks another when you first meet is, “what do you do for a living?” This allows us to try to understand where someone fits into our world.
The truth is our jobs are just an activity we agree to participate in. The job will end eventually. It will not define who you are as a person; only tell people what you did to make money. Being successful at your job is different for everyone, but being attached to a job is difficult because when the shifting sands take it away, what will you be then? Identity questions will follow, and if you have spent no time getting to know yourself, you are in for a rude awakening. I have found many different roles we can fit into and find enjoyment and satisfaction in the performance of money tasks. But I no longer build attachments to these things. I am the same person in every job; I have just had to play a different role. Give your best and look to enjoy the parts of the job that you genuinely want, and work will be rewarding. Always expect it to change, and you will never be disappointed when it does. Shifting sands are always under your feet.
Life Itself
The compilation of experiences we endure is the sum of our lives. From the earliest moments when we are children, we start to piece together our observations and moments to understand how things work and how we can best thrive and survive. Striking balance is the most efficient method for riding the shifting sands and gaining the most enjoyment of your time. Life has a way of keeping you moving down the path of experience. We often have no choice in what we will face, but we always control how we deal with things. I have often
not reacted well initially to things. Seeing the sand shift and swallow up the things I built attachments to. But in time, with thought and effort, I think I have regained my balance, learned a lesson, and enjoyed life in a new way.
It’s hard to let things go into that shifting sand, but all of our lives and growth stem from the ability to do just that successfully. Dance in the sands and understand things will never stay the same, just because you particularly enjoyed a particular part of it. Enjoy each moment for what it brings you, and then be ready to accept the next moment and find the joy, gratitude, and appreciation for what those moments bring to your experience. Learn your lessons from the past and leave the moments there. Look to this moment to find your joy because this is the only moment you have and are guaranteed.
Finally……..
Today is Easter Sunday 2019, take a moment and look at your life and choose the things in your day that you are grateful for, enjoy them and then let them go into the ever-changing abyss of your experience. There will be new and different experiences on your horizon coming into your life in the next moment or 24 hours from now. Be ready to embrace them. Find the people looking for that very same thing, spend time with them, embrace moments, and be grateful for your time together. Avoid attachments to relationships, moments, experiences, jobs, and things. All will leave, break, and end eventually, which is not good or bad, just a fact. Learning to enjoy what is here is one of the secrets to life.
- When the universe gives you more than you expect: Embrace it and then share it.
- Your life becomes a masterpiece when you learn to master peace.
- You’re the most significant switch in life, and your energy turns the light on or off.
- Choose your happiness over everything.
- It is what it is. Accept it and move on.
- Be patient. Everything is coming together.
- Healing is an art, and it takes time, and it takes practice, and it takes love.
- You live, You learn, You move on.
- One of the happiest moments in life is finding the courage to let go of what you cannot change.
- Sometimes you have to accept that certain things will never return to how they used to be. Life goes on.
