That famous quote from Forest Gump is hokey but true: Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
The other day, I read this pretty inspiring post from Yaro Starak, one of my favourite bloggers. Without realizing it, I have been managing my life this way for the past two years – and really consciously for the past six months.
The words “flow” and “mystery” particularly resonated for me since I’ve been searching for something that explains how I plan and make decisions that isn’t just referring people to The Secret, which doesn’t exactly encapsulate what I’ve been thinking anyway.
I love the concept of “mystery.” It’s true: Life is a mystery. The only truth we really have is right now. You don’t know what’s happening 10 minutes from now and your memory of the past is just that – a memory and oftentimes one so altered by your perspectives and selective at best.
Don’t believe me? Someone from high school recently connected with me over Facebook. She remembers driving to prom in my car with me, along with Jesse and another girl from high school. And yet I have absolutely no recollection of her – her presence in the back seat of our car, what we talked about, what she even looked like – all of it remains a mystery. If not for Facebook, she – and the other girl for that matter – would be gone forever. And honestly, I’d be neither worse for wear.
We don’t know what’s going to happen in 10 minutes from now. We get so caught up with the “what if” of decision making – what if I get that job and I’ve already accepted this other job? What if I run out of money? What if… – all under the guise of better planning. As one successful entrepreneur recently said to me, “this is all imagining.” And she’s right. We are gripped by analysis paralysis, crippled by what might happened rather than focus on what is happening now. You can’t predict what is going to happen. You can only give it your best guess. So often things will happen that you didn’t expect – and that’s the joy and whimsy of life.
So all we have is right now.
Which brings us to the concept of “flow.” Years ago, I read that if you are holding so tightly onto something – your job, your house, your vision of who you are, whatever – then you can’t open your hand to receive. Life is about keeping yourself malleable. The problem with trying to predict and plan too much into an imaginary future is that you can easily fall into the trap of not listening to what the universe might be telling you. Or you might be so rigid that your mind is made up even before you think of a possible alternative.
It’s essential to keep yourself open to possibilities and provide yourself with permission to “go with the flow” – without prior judgment of any imaginary outcomes. After all, isn’t that what life’s all about?
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Yes, Indeed, Christine, thanks for this wonder-filled post, once again.
“Two roads diverged in the woods and I/ I took the one less traveled by/ And that has made all the difference,” wrote the American poet, Robert Frost. I think this best sums up what you have been trying to convey.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “There is more to life than speed.”
We have started to live out our lives on auto-pilot and forget that all we have is the here and now. Perhaps we need to re-dedicate our lives to moment-to-moment awareness instead of thinking about yesterday and tomorrow. How about thinking about what’s going on right now?
Your post reminded me of these issues. Thanks for your insights.