The Age of Loneliness

If only we’d make peace with life by giving up resistance. A saint once counseled “Expect little, accept all". It takes a lot to practice the former and either a highly submissive or overly spiritual person to be the latter. When things don’t align with our perspective (skewed or straight), we have this tendency of putting up stiff resistance in a bid to better our lot (or our perception of what’s good for us). We don’t accept things lying down. Maybe, that is what all the super achievers have in common. Fighting against all odds to do what must be done. So are the saints of yore wrong, or have their sayings lost their significance in today’s troubled times? Does making peace with our lot in life make profound sense or is it being submissive and sparing ourselves the effort? Another something that arises from this is whether we have brought it upon ourselves or was it a pre-determined path, which we have to tread. Even a huge chunk of rock isn’t enough to curb the flow of a gurgling river. Sooner or later it will find it’s way. That is resistance from the point of view of the rock and acceptance of the will of nature on the part of the river. A peaceful co-existence of two I would say. The river doesn’t stop flowing because an impediment came in it’s way. This is accepting your lot in life and learning all the way.

Happiness to us means different things at different times. It also means different things to different people. How should we react when one or most of the ingredients to the recipe of happiness and peace are missing? Do we make a desperate bid to gather all the ingredients that according to us would make a delicious dish or do we try an alternative low fat, low spice dish? It doesn’t harm to delve into alternate and healthy cooking. This is accepting all that we have and making the best of it. Without resistance, sans pain and God willing for our own good. Definitely into unchartered territory, but the new place can only become likable if we are ready to let go of our visions of paradise. Who knows the unfamiliar terrain can turn out to be several shades better than what we had envisioned would be paradisiacal. It takes humongous efforts, but it’s all worth the pain. And like I always say…Some other time, some other life…Things will be as they should be, as we’ve known them.