1:17pm
Cafe 1842 - Waterloo, Ontario
Good afternoon. It's a balmy -2 celsius outside today, and I find myself at one of my favourite cafes drinking javanilla coffee and munching on a banana nut muffin. I'm also perusing my Facebook feed, and this little nugget of "truth" just came into my view:
Really? Wow! You mean that all my worries are soon to be extinguished, all my needs met? All I have to do is relax and trust and "watch how fast" the universe works on my behalf? That's great!
There's just one problem.
It's bullshit.
This meme (strange, aren't all memes usually 100% true?) isn't the only one going around with the same sentiments. There are others that say things like "Everything happens for a reason" or "Trust that everything will work out in the end."
There was a time several years ago when I connected with and loved sayings like this. I was part of a spiritual community, a sect of Christianity, that was very much about positive thinking and The Secret. If you're unfamiliar with the book, it basically deals with the rather fishy "law of attraction." Basically if you hold an idea or thought in your mind and "put it out to the universe," said universe will bring it to you. I went to workshops that recommended creating vision boards. Basically you put pictures of what it is that you desire (i.e. a new car, a new job, a vacation, a bigger bank account, better health, a partner), you look at it every day, and the universe will conspire to eventually bring them to you.
There was only one problem.
It didn't work.
It's a lovely thought that the universe is working on your behalf, isn't it? That someThing, someOne, someWhere is working overtime in order to grant your wishes.
The only problem with this line of thinking, besides it not working, is that it abdicates us from our responsibilities to make tough choices and to make our lives into what we want them to be. There is something to be said for having an optimistic outlook on life, but we take it a step too far if we start expecting a Lamborghini to show up in our driveway with Scarlett Johansson in the drivers seat (I'm still holding out hope for that one...)
Some people wait their entire lives for life/the universe to bring them something, without taking any practical steps to making their lives better or their dreams come true. Life is rough, cold, and dark sometimes; perhaps that is why people resort to messages like those in the above meme. I would also say that this is why people choose to enact petitionary prayer to a god. We are often faced with things like illness, violence, and poverty, and we wish with all our hearts that there is someThing, someOne, someWhere looking after us and conspiring to make things better.
I am slowly learning that we have a responsibility to do with our lives what we will, to act rather than wait for god/the universe to bring things to us. I wish it weren't true. I wish that my good thoughts and intentions were all that was needed to have a fulfilling life. But they're not.
Instead, we have to do what we can with what we have, and grab life by the balls and live.
mark andrew
