This Too Shall Pass

When life gets tough, the tough get going.  Grin and bear it.  Hold on tight, we're in for a rough ride!  When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.  Pull up your big girl pants and get on with it.


This too shall pass.  Ah yes, that's the one that is resonating strongly with me this week.  I am constantly reminded that what I need to learn shows up on my path and this past week presented a few opportunities to remember the transient nature of all things. 


So many moments exist in just one day where things are shifting and changing.  If we were to measure physical parameters like heart rate, brain waves, hormonal fluctuations and blood pressure we'd see consistent variability.  One moment I feel like I'm so incredibly hungry, then starving the next that I grab a bite and the next moment I'm full.  We don't like what we hear on the car radio and in an instant we can change it with a push of a button.  Step outside at 6 am and it's cold, two hours later, you're peeling off your layers because it's now too hot. Last week I could easily bind in a pose, this week it seems just out of reach. Our bodies change...constantly.


If we talk about mental fluctuations, simply try to sit for more than a minute without chasing a thought.  Can you be completely without thought?  They flit across our screen of consciousness like gnats over grass.  Thoughts change...constantly.


So if we know that things are always changing, why do we get so hung up when challenging things happen?  One characteristic of being human is attaching ourselves to thoughts, people and objects.  If we hold onto whatever it is, it can feel as though we're safe and feeling safe is fundamental to our survival.  Being attached is inbred on the most primal level.  As babies, we need to attach to our mothers so we can thrive and this in-born quality begins to expand over time.  We attach ourselves to our jobs, our stuff and our relationships.  We attach ourselves to what we believe is our identity but is it really who we are?


From the yogic perspective, this clinging or attachment is called raga and its partner, aversion, is called dvesha.  These emotional responses can blind us from seeing our own path to freedom.  It's a constant push-pull to holding onto what we want and think is right to avoiding what we don't want.  It can also be reflective of holding expectation and having past experiences that creates these perceptions. What we do know is that when life is constantly shifting it can lead us to feeling that the only thing to do is to hold on tight or to run away.


Part of our practice is to recognize when this is happening and to become radically present which enables us to see what is actually happening in that moment rather than what we think should be happening.  We have expectations that love will last forever, that our jobs are secure and that we will have continued good health, so when these expectations turn out to be false do we crumble or do we see the wisdom that lies within it?


To sit with whatever feeling and sensation arises is a difficult practice but a necessary one if we are to become comfortable with the notion of suffering.  When we sit with what is present, we begin to realize that what lies within which is that unique expression of our warm and radiant being.  What lies within is the same universal energy and light that inhabits all living beings.  What lies within remains unchanged.  


So when the waves of our lives begin to get big and scary, remember that lying beneath the surface is the true expression of who we are.  If we're avoiding our suffering we are sitting upon the surface. If we turn to face our suffering and dive deeply within, we are able remember and connect to the inner calm.  Let go, surrender and release that to which we cling and find true freedom.


Whatever is rocking your world will change.  This too, shall pass.