Trust

During my never-ending search for enlightenment, I've come across a common theme. It's one we could all accept to make our lives a little easier so I've decided to write about it in hopes of reaching a few of you. As you may know, I follow Taoism and have for the past few years. Every once in a while I have a moment that confirms something I've learned and amazes me, still. In the 55th verse of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu states, "He who is in harmony with the Tao is like a newborn child. Deadly insects will not sting him." Translated in my interpretation: if you believe you are connected to everything, and do not have fear or hatred in you, then there is not a creature that would wish to harm you. Newborns are so close to nature; in awe of everything, and are accepting of everyone regardless of their race, creed, nationality or gender. They have no intent on harming. At the park Saturday, a yellow jacket or wasp, I'm not sure which, landed on Alex's face. I internally panicked and before I had time to act, Alex swatted it. I thought about all of the yellow jacket attacks I had heard about this summer that were sending adults without allergies to the hospital because the venom was getting more potent. I searched his face where the insect had landed and there was not one mark. You may think I'm crazy or roll your eyes, but I believe the insect sensed his innocence. If it had been me, there is no doubt in my mind that I would have had a baseball sized welt on my face.
So now to the issue of trust. You all have experienced a moment when life just didn't seem fair. That things didn't go your way, and you wanted it so badly, it physically hurt. You felt sorry for yourself, cried, punched a wall, or even spent some time curled up and hugging your knees. The death of a loved one or the death of a dream are both things worthy of such emotions. When you say you just don't understand 'why', you are right. Believe that it is not for you to understand. When we are children and want a cookie before dinner and our parents tell us no, we don't understand the reasoning behind it. While some throw a tantrum and scream and kick, other kids trust that there is a reason their parents said no. They might ask 'why', but will accept the ever-prevailing, "because I said so". Sometimes that's the only answer we need as adults. We can't always understand the reasoning behind what goes on in life, but we can understand that there is reasoning that's bigger than we can comprehend at this stage of our existence. I have found much peace in this way of thinking. Not knowing the reasons, but trusting that there are reasons. There is a perfect plan and we are all a part of it... regardless of how we want it to be.
Take of this what you will, but if it's a new concept to you, I encourage you to give it a try.