How much are you able to trust that life will unfold easily and in your best interest? And, if you are able to trust, how does that affect your life?
Albert Einstein, when asked by a reporter what was the most important question facing humanity, he replied, “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.”
Isn’t most of the worry and anxiety that many of us experience reflect the fear that something might not work out OK? We hold a fear that if we don’t make all the right decisions and take the right actions at the right time, things will go badly? These worries and fears reflect an assumption that the Universe is NOT a friendly place! What a heavy burden to live with – feeling that we have to get everything right or we will be unhappy?
What if this is not true? What if we choose to believe that the Universe IS a friendly place? What if when something doesn’t unfold the way we wanted or expected we decide that things ARE unfolding in our best interest, and that something even better is happening?
When my life seems to hit a ‘bumpy spot in the road’, I often repeat to myself a phrase from the poem, “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann, which says: “And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”
I find this statement soothing, reassuring and it affirms my belief that the Universe is, indeed, a friendly place. I believe that things will go well, more often than not, especially if I get out of the way.
I have now spent more than a year technically living out of a suitcase. This was not my plan! In January 2010 my plan was to take 3 months off (I called it my “Sabbatical”), house-sit for a friend, get some rest, take care of my body and practice listening to my Inner Guidance (I will write about that practice in another article.) My plan was to then return to Honolulu, get settled in a new home and continue life as I’d known it, only in a more clear and peaceful way – Not what happened!
Before I even left Honolulu, I had the shocking experience of dealing with a close friend’s suicide and needing to take care of her affairs. Even the house-sitting arrangement didn’t work out the way I had expected.
Here’s where Trusting came into the picture… even though my “Sabbatical” was not beginning the way I had anticipated, I was able to relax and TRUST that things were unfolding in a good way for me. Within a couple of days, an even more ideal house-sitting arrangement appeared and I had a magical 3 month Sabbatical.
What I began to experience was that the details of my life – my plans – such as my travel and class schedule – started to change. For example, one class had no students sign up (previously an opportunity for stress, worry & fear!) and as I just let it go and told myself that something better must be in store for me, an opportunity to teach for the first time in Ketchikan, AK appeared!
Each time I felt the need to organize my life, get settled and schedule things like I used to, something would happen to throw a wrench in the works. I got used to surrendering and giving up what I had thought would be my best plan. I have even started telling friends and family that I no longer have “Plans,” I just have “Ideas!”
And here’s where the validation appears: This past year has felt like a magical journey – full of surprises and delight! I have had more fun and done more new things this year than I have done in the past five years!
Sometimes I will head in a particular direction, and things will get difficult. I seem to bump into many obstacles. Instead of being ‘determined’ and ‘committed’ I back off. This sounds like a recipe for failure, especially if you believe that you have to get everything done ‘right’ to be happy! Instead, when I back off and relax, another direction appears and things begin to unfold with great serendipity.
This, I am convinced, is because I am getting out of the way and allowing this ‘Friendly’ Universe that we live in to take care of me. To lead me to the fulfillment of my dreams in a way I would never have been able to figure out in advance.
If you were to believe that “the Universe is conspiring on your behalf”, what would be different in your life? How free from anxiety would you be? What opportunities might appear that you wouldn’t have found if you were trying to figure it out all by yourself? What support from others might be out there?
We do have the choice to decide what we believe… we will always find evidence to support our point of view. (What if our point of view generates our experience? Hmmmm) Why not drop the worries and see what evidence there is for the positive perspective? My experiences over that past year have certainly convinced me!
