Let Us Trust Life… and Learn to Flow with Its Course!

Let Us Trust Life… and Learn to Flow with Its Course!

Life is not a journey in which everything unfolds exactly as we wish.

Sometimes, what we hope for finds its way to us.

At other times, the very things we long for remain beyond our reach.

We make countless plans. Yet, we cannot say with certainty what will happen even in the very next moment.

Nevertheless, most of us spend much of our lives trying to shape every event according to our wishes.

We want the people we love to remain by our side. We want our relationships to turn out as we expect. We hope to receive rewards proportionate to our hard work, and we want all our plans to proceed without obstacles.

There is nothing wrong with any of this.

Having aspirations, making plans and putting in effort are natural parts of human life.

However, when we begin to expect everything to happen exactly as we wish, disappointment, worry and anger start to take root in our minds.

There is a significant difference between living life and trying to keep life under our complete control.

Once we understand this difference, many of the burdens we carry begin to grow lighter.

### Can We Control Everything?

Let us consider a simple example.

When we leave home in the morning, we plan to reach our destination at a particular time.

We prepare accordingly.

But along the way, we encounter heavy traffic.

Unexpected rain begins to fall.

The transport we depend on is delayed.

At this point, we have two choices.

One is to become increasingly angry about what has happened, wondering why everything seems to be going wrong today. We continue fighting inwardly against circumstances that we cannot change.

The other is to understand the situation and calmly consider what we can do next.

In either case, the traffic will not disappear immediately.

But the way we respond to the situation can change completely.

Life works in much the same way.

We may not be able to change what has already happened.

But we can, to some extent, decide how much we allow it to disturb our minds and what steps we take next.

This is one of life's most important truths.

Accepting that we cannot control everything is not a sign of defeat.

On the contrary, understanding what we can control and what we must learn to accept is a form of emotional maturity.

### What Do We Mean by Divine Power?

Some people believe that everything that happens in life is arranged by a higher divine power.

Others understand it as the movement of nature, the order of the universe or the natural flow of life.

The names we give to these beliefs may differ. Yet there is a valuable lesson we can learn from them.

We are not the only ones directing the course of this world.

Many forces and events beyond our personal wishes influence the way our lives unfold.

Consider a seed growing into a tree.

Planting the seed in the soil is a human action.

Watering it and protecting it are our responsibilities.

But the awakening of life within the seed, along with the nature of the soil, warmth, rain and changing seasons that contribute to its growth, are not entirely within our control.

We do what needs to be done while allowing space for what lies beyond our control.

Life is much the same.

We must make an effort. We must fulfil our responsibilities. We must make sound decisions.

But we cannot insist that every outcome must unfold according to our wishes.

Someone who believes in divine power might think:

“I do not have to carry everything on my own shoulders. I will do whatever I can, and surrender to God whatever lies beyond my ability to change.”

Such a thought may bring peace of mind.

This trust may arise through prayer and worship.

It may blossom through meditation.

Or it may develop through the experiences of life itself.

Whatever the path, if this understanding helps free our minds from unnecessary struggles, it can bring us genuine benefit.

### Does Letting Go of Control Mean Giving Up on Effort?

Here is something we must understand carefully.

Some people may think that accepting life as it unfolds means doing nothing and simply sitting back.

That is not what it means!

If a student wishes to succeed in an examination, they must study.

Someone responsible for a family must work for the family's well-being.

A person who values good health must take care of their body.

Anyone who wishes to maintain loving relationships must devote time and attention to them.

Leaving everything to God without doing what is necessary is not faith.

It is an avoidance of responsibility.

What we need to understand is something different.

Making the effort is our responsibility. Controlling every outcome of that effort is not.

A farmer prepares the land and sows the seeds.

The farmer removes the weeds, waters the crops and protects them.

All these efforts are made with care.

Yet the farmer cannot prevent every change in nature.

That does not mean the farmer stops sowing seeds.

At the same time, if the rains fail, the farmer does not spend the rest of their life blaming themselves and weeping over what has happened.

Instead, the farmer tries again, learns from experience and prepares for the next season.

This is the attitude we need in life.

Let us make plans. Let us work hard. Let us correct our mistakes and make use of the opportunities available to us.

But when the expected results do not materialise because of circumstances beyond our control, we must not conclude that life itself is over.

True maturity lies in continuing to make an effort while reducing our excessive attachment to the outcome.

### Let Us Travel with the Flow of the River!

A river offers us a beautiful way to understand life.

A river begins its journey in the mountains, winding its way through rocks and valleys, overcoming obstacles as it flows towards its destination.

At certain points, it rushes forward with great force.

Elsewhere, it flows gently and peacefully.

In some places, it plunges downwards as a waterfall.

Yet the river does not stop at every rock to fight against it.

Where it cannot move the rock aside, it flows around it.

When it encounters a valley, it descends.

Where a path opens, it moves forward.

We, too, need to learn this lesson in life.

Some people may fail to understand us.

Some relationships may not turn out as we hoped.

An opportunity we deeply desired may go to someone else.

A dream we have spent years building may collapse because of unexpected circumstances.

At such times, it is natural to ask, “Why did this happen to me?”

But instead of becoming trapped in that question and bringing our lives to a standstill, we must learn to ask another:

“What can I do now?”

We cannot force people who have left us to remain in our lives.

We cannot turn back the passage of time.

We may not be able to recover an opportunity that has already passed.

But we can learn from those experiences.

We can change our direction.

We can keep the door open for new opportunities.

Flowing with the river of life does not mean surrendering to every circumstance without question.

It means knowing when to stand firm, when to change direction and when to let go.

The art of living in harmony with life is to protect our dignity and well-being while letting go of unnecessary stubbornness.

### What Seems Painful Today May Become a Lesson Tomorrow!

When certain events occur in our lives, we may not immediately understand their causes or recognise any value they might hold for us.

Someone we trusted completely may deceive us.

We may not get the job we wanted.

An opportunity we have been waiting for over many years may slip away.

Someone very dear to us may leave our lives.

At that moment, all we may feel is pain.

Questions may arise in our minds:

“Why does this happen only to me?”

“What have I done wrong?”

“Why have I not succeeded despite trying so hard?”

We do not need to find immediate answers to these questions.

Some answers become clear only with the passage of time.

A job we failed to obtain years ago may have encouraged us to seek a different opportunity, one that suited us better.

An experience of being deceived may have taught us to understand people more carefully before placing our trust in them.

A broken relationship may have helped us recognise the value of our self-respect.

An experience that brings tears to our eyes today may give us the understanding we need to wipe away someone else's tears tomorrow.

However, this does not mean that all suffering is good, or that we should quietly accept every injustice that comes our way.

When we suffer, we must try to find a way out of that suffering.

When injustice occurs, we must find the courage to speak out against it.

When a relationship becomes harmful, we must establish appropriate boundaries.

And when we need help, we must be willing to seek it.

Acceptance does not mean denying the pain we experience.

It means refusing to allow that pain to govern our entire future.

We cannot say that everything that happens in life is beneficial to us.

But we do have the opportunity to learn something from our experiences and grow through them.

When we make use of that opportunity, even the wounds of the past can become reminders of the wisdom we have gained.

### Do We Need to Find an Immediate Reason for Everything?

We often want every event in life to have a clear explanation.

Especially when something unpleasant happens, we begin searching for the meaning behind it.

The reasons for some events may become clearer with time.

For others, we may never find the answers we expected.

What should we do then?

We are not obliged to discover an immediate divine explanation for every event that occurs.

Sometimes, it is enough to accept that life is a journey shaped by many different factors coming together in ways we cannot fully understand.

Consider a leaf falling from a tree.

It may mark the end of a season.

It may be part of nature's process of change, making way for new leaves to emerge.

But we do not need to investigate and discover precisely why every individual leaf falls at that particular moment.

In the same way, certain events unfold in our lives.

Even when we cannot understand all the reasons behind them, we can still choose how we respond.

Those who believe in God may regard such events as part of divine play.

Others may understand them as natural changes in the course of life.

Whatever perspective we choose, what matters is whether it leads us away from fear towards peace, from hatred towards understanding, and from hopelessness towards hope.

We do not need to know everything.

Nor are we required to change everything according to our wishes.

Sometimes, there is great wisdom in quietly saying:

“I do not know. Let me see what time teaches me.”

### Everything Is Connected to Everything Else!

We often imagine that we live independently of everything around us.

But when we reflect a little more deeply, we begin to understand how closely every part of our lives is connected to other people and to nature.

Behind the food we eat lies the hard work of a farmer.

Many people's contributions make the roads we travel possible.

Behind the knowledge we acquire are our teachers, parents, books, experiences and countless other influences.

Even a few simple words spoken by someone we meet can change the way we think.

A small act of kindness from us may bring about a significant change in another person's life.

Seen in this way, life is not merely a collection of separate events.

It is a long journey in which many people, circumstances and experiences are interconnected.

As this awareness grows within us, so does our ability to understand others.

Our arrogance about having achieved everything entirely on our own begins to diminish.

We recognise that many people have contributed to our successes.

Likewise, we learn not to blame ourselves alone for everything we have failed to achieve.

We must take responsibility for our actions.

At the same time, we do not need to regard every event in the world as a personal victory or a personal failure.

This understanding also frees us from constantly comparing ourselves with others.

One person may achieve great success at a young age.

Another may reach their goal only after struggling for many years.

Spring may be flourishing in one person's life today, while another is enduring a difficult season.

Every person's journey is unique.

Rather than measuring our lives against those of others, it is more worthwhile to do the best we can within the circumstances of our own journey.

### How Do We Learn to Trust the Timing of Life?

There is a season for a flower to bloom.

There is a time for a fruit to ripen.

A child, too, needs time to grow.

We cannot plant a seed today and expect it to become a fully grown tree tomorrow.

Yet we, as human beings, often lose patience.

We want success to come immediately after we make an effort.

We expect the same amount of love to be returned as soon as we offer it.

We hope that if we do good, only good things will happen to us.

But life does not always work that way.

The results of some efforts come quickly.

Others take a long time to bear fruit.

Some efforts may not produce the outcomes we expected.

When that happens, we may need to choose a different path.

Trusting the timing of life does not mean waiting indefinitely, believing that one day everything will eventually happen exactly as we wish.

It means making an effort with the patience we need, accepting change where change is necessary, and respecting the time required for outcomes to unfold.

Some doors may not open for us.

That does not mean every door is closed.

Some paths may not take us where we originally wanted to go.

That does not mean our entire journey has been wasted.

The path may have changed.

The destination may have changed.

Even our understanding of ourselves may have changed.

The beauty of life lies in discovering our next step within these changes.

### Let Us Live in the Present Moment!

Our minds often swing between two places.

One is the past.

The other is the future.

We regret mistakes we made in the past.

We wonder whether we should have made different decisions.

We worry about what might happen in the future.

We fear that our plans may fail.

In between all these thoughts, we often lose sight of the present moment that is actually in our hands.

The past gives us experience.

The future gives us goals.

But the present moment is what we have for taking action, expressing love and experiencing happiness.

Life is waiting for us in many simple things.

We can wake up in the morning and appreciate the gift of a new day.

We can give our family members our undivided attention when we speak to them.

We can appreciate the food we eat.

We can notice the beauty of nature.

We can speak kindly to someone whose heart is troubled.

We do not need to achieve great things before we can recognise the value of these moments.

Let us have plans for the future and retain the lessons we have learnt from the past.

But let us not allow their burdens to rob us of the present day.

Instead of waiting to become happy only after every problem has been resolved, let us learn to appreciate the small joys that exist even amid life's imperfections.

Peace of mind does not require a life entirely free from problems.

What matters is learning not to lose ourselves even while facing those problems.

### Dear Friends!

When we stand at the threshold of old age and look back upon our lives, we may realise that many unexpected events have taught us deeper lessons than those that unfolded according to our plans.

Some encounters brought us happiness.

Some separations wounded us.

Some failures left us discouraged.

Some successes gave us confidence.

We found answers to certain questions.

Other questions remain unanswered to this day.

Yet, through all these experiences, we continue to move forward on our journey.

What we need to learn along the way is not how to bring everything under our control.

It is how to do the best we can, accept what we cannot change with the maturity it requires, and adapt ourselves to changing circumstances.

Those who believe in God can do what lies within their ability and surrender the rest to Him.

Those who trust in nature can understand its changes and move forward in harmony with them.

Whatever our beliefs may be, what matters is that we live peacefully without neglecting our responsibilities.

We cannot confidently claim that everything that happens in life happens for our benefit.

But we can learn from what we have experienced, improve ourselves and become people who bring value to the lives of others.

We do not know what tomorrow will bring.

But we do have some control over how we live today.

Therefore, let us not lose today's peace through fear of tomorrow.

Let us not sacrifice the happiness of the present to the regrets of the past.

Let us not make life difficult for ourselves and those around us by stubbornly insisting that everything must happen according to our wishes.

Let us see every day that life offers us as a new opportunity.

Let us make an effort, without tormenting ourselves over the results.

Let us love, without trying to control others.

Let us make plans, without believing that life is over when those plans change.

When suffering comes, let us not pretend that it does not exist. Instead, let us seek ways to recover and move forward.

When success comes, let us not become arrogant.

When failure comes, let us not lose confidence in ourselves.

Without the urgency to understand everything and without the stubbornness to change everything, let us live as consciously and lovingly as we can.

We may not always be able to determine the course of life's journey.

But we can change the kind of human beings we become as we travel along it.

That is our true freedom.

Let us trust life.

Let us trust our efforts.

Let us accept with peace what we cannot change.

Let us remain open-hearted to the lessons that time has to teach us.

Life does not always have to unfold according to our wishes.

But whatever form it takes, we can learn to discover meaning, love and peace within it, and live accordingly.

With affection,

Sakthi Sakthithasan