What do our valiant attempts to tame everything into a beautiful semblance of order teach us? (OK! NOT EVERYTHING, maybe just our kids, partners, homes, parents and colleagues). The blatant truth is that we have very little control for the most part over most of LIFE - and even less over others.
And yet there is an underlying rhythm to the apparent chaos. There's a deeply intelligent design woven into the very fabric of Existence, which keeps it 'working out' in unforeseeable ways. This Great Intelligence is pretty obvious in nature. You can call this unseen creative force God, Source, the Force, the Universe, just plain luck, or whatever else works for you. I think of it as the Grace of Existence, an invisible golden thread that binds everything.
All our human angst, stress and despair comes from living in denial of this fundamental truth. In the Eastern traditions this is called Maya, the illusion which creates suffering. Our forgetfulness is innocent, but the consequences are big.
Some overwhelm is a legit part of living a fulfilling life, we're equipped to deal with that. And it's also very possible to release ourselves from the cage of perpetual worry, by consciously recognising the golden thread of Existential Grace. We're already in it, all we have to do is stop being blind to it. Like gravity, it keeps holding us even when we don't know it.
Everything has been working out since before we were born and will continue to do so long after we're gone. That's how we got here against all odds. BREATHE THAT IN AND REJOICE. Really getting this at a visceral level is life changing. It becomes very hard to fully believe the catastrophic story of disaster in our heads, the next time it kicks off, when we're truly aware that everything always works out. I invite you to journey with this idea as we roll into the new year.
Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles with marigold garlands