That Really Sucks, but Thanks.

You know when life doesn't seem to be going according to plan? When things seem to be going wrong all the time? Sometimes it can seem like one thing after another; your car breaks down, your pet gets ill, you come down with a cold, you run out of milk or bread etc (left the worst till last).

You end up saying, 'Come on, Life, just give us a break!' Sometimes, if things really get on top of you, you might take on the role as the victim and end up saying something like, 'Why me?'

Been there. Done that.

But life is never personal.

Life is an impersonal process.

The bigger picture just has to be seen.

About three weeks ago I came down with Laryngitis. Then on top of that I had a flu-like bug. It (and I) wasn't pretty. I could feel my physical ailments getting the better of me - and the answer to my problem lay in that one sentence. I could feel my physical ailments getting the better of me. When I saw that I wasn't my physical ailments, I detached myself from them, and therefore was no longer them.

I became the observer.

As the Zen master, Suzuki, said about his cancer, 'There is pain there, but there is no suffering.'

So my attitude to Laryngitis changed. I started to say thank you for the experience. I had no choice but to lay in bed, read, watch films, and basically just chill out and rest. I hadn't done this for a long, long time. So I started to feel really grateful for the opportunity.

Can you accept the crappy circumstances (if there are any) going on in your life? More importantly, can you see that the circumstances, the opportunities to grow, aren't crap?

That may be a tough one, I admit.

I wouldn't be saying all this if I didn't practise it myself. So believe me, I know it's hard. But to see everything that goes on in your life as a blessing, a gift, an opportunity to grow, your suffering lifts, and your spirit goes with it. You'll feel lighter. You might even smile at whatever it is that has happened - depending on the severity of it.

Remember, Triple A:

1. Accept
2. Adapt
3. Acknowledge

Your car breaks down; accept it. You get Laryngitis; accept it. Your pet gets ill; accept it. It's already happened, so by accepting it you don't resist it. Resisting what already is, surely, is a waste of time and energy.

As Ram Dass said, resistance is like picking up all the leaves in Autumn and trying to stick them back on the tree.

By accepting the fact your car has broken down, you don't resist it and therefore you can adapt to the situation more easily, more calmly.

Acknowledge that the happening is for you and your growth. You will grow (you are forever growing). You will learn things about yourself. You will never get to a point where you say, 'I've learnt all there is no learn about myself.'

'Life is a process of continuing growth.' Bruce Lee.

Whatever life throws at us, it's our emotional involvement that decides whether it's something big or small.

. . . When really, in reality, everything that happens, just is.

. . . Look! Spring's here . . .