I've been thinking about the importance of some of the crap we humans have to endure and survive lately. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. People who play by the rules. People who say please and thank you. People that just do good and are good. I mean, honestly, don't we all find it crazy making to witness lightning striking in the path of good people.Yet...does lightning ever ask?
Or does it just strike?
Good people, bad people. It strikes us all. It's simply a part of life, like it or not.
And we could willy-nilly go on accepting that lightning will strike us and those we know at random times during our life. For the most part, I think we all do just accept it and move on. Except when the big ones hit. Then we want to know why. Demand to know why. To what end did this happen? How does something bad happening to someone good fit in the grand scheme of things?
Because, honestly, humanly, horrible things happening to anyone doesn't seem to make any sense...
Only, once we start down the worn road of questioning the Universe, this Great Mystery we call life, it's easy to get bogged down in the wondering and the why'ing. How on Earth are we to think positively - or better yet, find a way to accept and move on - from the lightning that strikes in our lives and in the lives of those we know and love?
This is the main ingredient I've been chewing on lately. Do we just dwell in the darkness of the why's? Because that's easy to do. Forget life. Forget God. Forget ever breaking back into the light. I know. I've been there. Seen many people I know and love get stuck.
Yet, and this might be a stretch for some, but....there's something to having the unthinkable happen to you. Forget all the, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger/weirder," sayings. What I'm talking about it is much greater. And can help you live through and move on along your healing journey.
You just have to do One. Hard. Impossible. Thing.
Give in.
Give in to the possibility that it - everything - is meant to be. Meant to happen.
I've always believed everything happens for a reason. That belief came after a few big booming lightning strikes took me out of the game for a few years (aka, a decade). To bounce back from them, there was one sure fire way to get back into living and loving life.
BY GIVING IN.
Give in to the possibility that what happened, happened for a purpose...
This can be a hard concept to accept. Why? Because to do so, you have to do one more impossibly hard thing.
LET GO.
Let go of your own concept of what life is.
Let go of who you think is in charge.
Let go of the could-have-been's in your life.
There comes a time - and sometimes, many times - in our lives that we are presented with a notion, a thought, an arbitrary line of thinking, that maybe, just maybe, things could have been different. Life - its ups and down, its challenges, its crosses to bear - could have been different. Would have been.
If only I had made that one choice differently...things would have turned out, different.
Let Go.
Let go of the past. Let go of the could have been... Let go.
and
Give In.
Give in to the notion that something great can and will come of this.
I know. This took me years to accept, discover. Sometimes, it's insanely hard to fathom something good coming out of something bad.
Yet...
The only way to find light in darkness - no matter the saturation- is to let go of the darkness. Let go of the wondering, the why'ing. Why me? Why now? Why? Why? Why? If you don't let go, then questions and worry will be all you ever have. All that will ever be brought to you.
What you put out into the Universe, the Universe sends back to you.
If you let go and give in, something extraordinary will happen. It can happen right away...or it can happen years from now. And that's what may be the hardest thing about letting go: the unknown. You don't know what's going to come of this. Or when. Or how.
Scary.
But you can do it. Let go...
Of your frustrations.
Of your worry.
Of your hope.
Yes, that too. If you're always looking down a path, straining to see the light, hoping you won't miss it, you might not see something glistening off to the side.
So, let go.
And give in.
Give in to any and all possibility. The answer you want, crave, need, may not ever come in the form you desire. That's the importance of letting go; let go of ALL your expectations.
We don't know why bad things happen to us. To anyone. But they are a part of life. By being giving in and letting go, we can help facilitate the healing that is all important to our life and well being.
So, that's your homework. Two really simple impossible things to do...that I know you can do:
1. Let Go.
2. Give in.
Peace be with you, now and always,
Lia Mack
