Trying to Change is Rejecting Life

man holding his hands in front of his face with his thumbs down

Change doesn’t happen by trying to change. Trying to change is actually the opposite of what’s helpful.

 

Trying to change thoughts, feelings, behaviors, level of consciousness, or anything else is a rejection of what is. It’s telling life that it got it wrong; that what’s arising should not be.

 

It’s telling life that we’re not okay with it. It needs to be different so we can be okay.

 

But how could life get it wrong? Doesn’t it seem more likely that your expectation is off?

 

And how could we only be okay when fleeting, impermanent thoughts, feelings, or behaviors line up with our expectations? We’d have to be fundamentally unwell for that to be the case.

 

Freedom isn’t a reward we get when we change the right things. Freedom is what’s here now, in all experience.

 

Freedom is felt when we look straight at what is. What could possibly feel more free than being with exactly what’s arising, exactly as it is?

 

P.S.– a longing for change is a beautiful thing that often, eventually, moves us toward leaning into what’s arising, exactly as it is. There is nothing wrong with a desire to change. There is nothing wrong with anything that arises.

 

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