Tuesday, February 5. 2008
Life Is Like A Box Of...Playing Cards
While meandering around on the internet I have come across a very inspirational blog called Insights For Life. In the most recent post, Make Friends With Uncertainty, the author discusses the subject of dealing with the inescapable fact that life is uncertain.
I have been thoroughly inspired to share my thoughts on dealing with uncertainty in life.
I'm a fairly optimistic person - most of the time. I'm sure just about everyone can relate, though, to the times when no matter what you do, you can't seem to catch a break. You begin to think that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. The chance of anything good happening seems less and less likely. This is a dark and scary vortex where it's difficult to keep your inner Pollyanna alive.
That's when I try to remind myself that life is no more certain to be miserable than it is to be delightful. This is the uncertain nature of it all...
Remaining mindful of the very fact that life is uncertain is the path out of the depression that can overtake you when your outlook turns negative. It is just as likely that something good could happen as it is that something bad could happen. It's not easy to think positively when it seems things are falling apart all around you, but misery is not a certainty. After all, who knows today who will have a tomorrow...? Who can predict when or how circumstances will turn, and to what effect?
These are times when it feels we've lost control of our life. But in all honesty, how much control do we ever really have, even when things are going our way...?
I have been thoroughly inspired to share my thoughts on dealing with uncertainty in life.
I'm a fairly optimistic person - most of the time. I'm sure just about everyone can relate, though, to the times when no matter what you do, you can't seem to catch a break. You begin to think that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. The chance of anything good happening seems less and less likely. This is a dark and scary vortex where it's difficult to keep your inner Pollyanna alive.
That's when I try to remind myself that life is no more certain to be miserable than it is to be delightful. This is the uncertain nature of it all...
Remaining mindful of the very fact that life is uncertain is the path out of the depression that can overtake you when your outlook turns negative. It is just as likely that something good could happen as it is that something bad could happen. It's not easy to think positively when it seems things are falling apart all around you, but misery is not a certainty. After all, who knows today who will have a tomorrow...? Who can predict when or how circumstances will turn, and to what effect?
These are times when it feels we've lost control of our life. But in all honesty, how much control do we ever really have, even when things are going our way...?
The author of Insights For Life likens life to a game of cards where you only have control of how well you play your hand; all other factors are out of your control. All you can do is your best, and the rest is up to fate, or luck, or happenstance, or whatever...
Rather than thinking that viewpoint fatalistic, I consider it empowering. I am responsible for myself, and I cannot...and should not waste my energy worrying about the actions of others. To try to control what others do, or think, or feel will only serve to frustrate me. The power I do possess is within me, not without.
While reading the author's post I was reminded of a fitting poem I discovered while preparing a project for a literature class I took in high school:
Whist
Eugene Fitch Ware
Hour after hour the cards were fairly shuffled
And fairly dealt, but still I got no hand;
The morning came, and with a mind unruffled
I only said, "I do not understand."
Life is a game of whist. From unseen sources
The cards are shuffled and the hands are dealt;
Blind are our efforts to control the forces
That, though unseen, are no less strongly felt.
I do not like the way the cards are shuffled,
But yet I like the game and want to play;
And through the long, long night will I, unruffled,
Play what I get until the break of day.
I have remembered that poem for many years. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I must have known that it depicts a truth I must take to heart.
Sometimes it is very hard to admit I have limited control over what happens, and that my destiny is - at best - only partially within my own hands. I work daily on "embracing the delicious mystery" that is life instead of trying to comprehend all its twists and turns. Kind of like how I've learned to watch Lost...
I'm not giving up on the whole karma thing, though!
Rather than thinking that viewpoint fatalistic, I consider it empowering. I am responsible for myself, and I cannot...and should not waste my energy worrying about the actions of others. To try to control what others do, or think, or feel will only serve to frustrate me. The power I do possess is within me, not without.
While reading the author's post I was reminded of a fitting poem I discovered while preparing a project for a literature class I took in high school:
WhistEugene Fitch Ware
Hour after hour the cards were fairly shuffled
And fairly dealt, but still I got no hand;
The morning came, and with a mind unruffled
I only said, "I do not understand."
Life is a game of whist. From unseen sources
The cards are shuffled and the hands are dealt;
Blind are our efforts to control the forces
That, though unseen, are no less strongly felt.
I do not like the way the cards are shuffled,
But yet I like the game and want to play;
And through the long, long night will I, unruffled,
Play what I get until the break of day.
I have remembered that poem for many years. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I must have known that it depicts a truth I must take to heart.
Sometimes it is very hard to admit I have limited control over what happens, and that my destiny is - at best - only partially within my own hands. I work daily on "embracing the delicious mystery" that is life instead of trying to comprehend all its twists and turns. Kind of like how I've learned to watch Lost...
I'm not giving up on the whole karma thing, though!
I've often equated my "hand" with opportunity and picture those opportunities as omni-present. That I'm the only one who holds myself back. That if I reach out, I can experience what it is that I want. I have lived this way for years and although I've made many choices -- some better than others, I've learned from each one, and can say I've grown in the process.
If in this process, I have been concerned about the actions of others, I have only done so to think about whether anything I have done has influenced that outcome. In some cases, it has. In others, I have only learned that my insecurities have gotten the best of me.
Ultimately, I agree with you, Gina. It is all so empowering. And I take advantage of that opportunity as much as I can. I always have something to look forward to and appreciate it.
Sorry I blathered on -- but my mind's really working now, so thanks!
Thanks for finding me through Entrecard!
I am glad what I wrote had an impact on you. It is good for me to know others can relate to what I'm feeling.
I try to remind myself that if things were too "cut and dried" I'd probably end up feeling bored instead of anxious. And really, which is worse...?
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I hope our paths cross again soon!