Embrace the Unpredictable

Embrace the Unpredictable

 

We all experience events which may leave us feeling, “Hey, what just happened?”.  Well, as we live in a world where we are continually having surprises sprung upon us, we might as well get acclimatized to uncertainty.

We go on a holiday with a particular plan, and it turns out to be something different.  We expect someone’s personality to be like this, or like that, and it turns out to be something else. We buy an expensive washing machine thinking that it’s a good brand, and it breaks down after only one year.  We pre-book a particular seat on a plane and it turns out it was not the one you were expecting.  You trust your labourers and make an advance payment, and they run off with the money!  Man (or woman) may dream one thing, but destiny has another plan in store!

The ego likes predictability.  We may believe we are on the ‘right’ course, that we are doing the right thing because all is going to plan, and we define that as success. When it doesn’t go according to plan… that’s failure! But perhaps I am meant to have a success of a different kind, in another arena.  There can be many definitions of success but if we are stuck on having things only go the way that we want them to, then we are destined for many disappointments.

A predictable plan of action for our lives is to be a good school student, get into a university, earn a good degree, a white-collar job, bring in the bucks, get a good house, a life partner, have kids, and watch them grow up…  and then wait for them to have children so that we can feel purposeful again.

Yet I meet many people on my journey whose lives did not pan out as above, and yet they are still happy.  Many who were not well behaved as children, but grew up to be kind and compassionate.  Many who did not have a good education, and yet were smarter in life.  Many who had poor finances, but learned that there is more wealth than the type that society defines.  Many who were not in happy circumstances for most of their lives, but who stay happy and would live their lives again if asked to.

It is the ego that loves to think that what it is conjuring and creating is all actually taking place according to its own plans, and so it begins to feel safe and secure within that.  Yet security is not in having a plan and implementing it, but in being able to apply the power to adjust when things are not going to plan. In fact it is at these times that we can exercise creativity and open ourselves up to newness.

Whenever we are making plans in life, just be open to the fact that 50 percent may go the way we envisioned, but the other 50 may bring surprises. Embrace those surprises with love and acceptance.  If you resist change, it means you don’t accept it, and then you will spend all your energy in ‘fighting your case’; and asking questions such as: “Hey, what just happened?”

Just be open to the day, accept the surprises, the challenges and the changes as opportunities. Make a plan for the sake of order and discipline, but stay open to whatever else may come.  To be open means to stay positive and empathetic (rather than rigid and angry), happy and content (not stuck in our disappointment).  The more we can go with the flow, the happier our lives will be. What’s more we may learn something new, have a new learning experience, and even have a pleasant time!

In fact, I would advocate inviting a little unpredictability into your life. Let go of rigidity and be open minded. Let go of resistance, and be open to something new and exciting.  The change may shake you out of your comfort zone and into places you haven’t been before, and they may be better than you could have imagined.

When you are driving and there is a diversion sign on the road in front of you, you don’t ignore the road signs or argue with the workmen, insisting that you want to carry on down the same old road as before. Because you know that if you do, you may end up in a big hole! You immediately understand that you are being diverted for a good reason.

Remind yourself, it’s OK.  I can handle the changes in my plan today.  Everything will work out as it is supposed to. There are reasons for everything.

In this way I stay happy and peaceful, and I can cruise through life enjoying the side-scenes on the way!

It’s time… To plan, prepare and schedule, but embrace the unpredictable!

 

 

© ‘It’s Time…’ by Aruna Ladva, BK Publications London, UK

 

 

 

 

 

 

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RAKESH ANAND

Unpredictable write-up which is embraceable and learn-able for all.
Thanks a lot Aruna didi

Angad Miskin

Nice one. Thank you