Some context.
I’ve just stumbled by this post of The Autodidacts. This is something I’ve actually thought about before. Maybe I’ve done it in a more teological way than them.
The whole idea of their essay is to understand that life comes with bad times. And as far as we can’t change our circumstances, most of the time is more helpful to focus on what we can change. That’s a more optimistic/realistic/logical way to receive the slam of reality.
Your life ain’t that serious and important.
If something is “serious” we automatically tend to treat it with more caution than it probably needs. We often think our daily problems are more serious and important than they actually are. Contrary, they usually aren’t too relevant at all. Many times I’ve found myself heartly worrying about problems that, at the end, life and time (God’s hands) solved without me even noticing.
The world won’t stop if I don’t reach that deadline propertly. Obviously, it will probably carry uncomfortable consequences for the rest of my routine, but they aren’t that dramatic.
Taking everything with sense of humor.
I’ve found that sense of humor is the cure for daily worries. It is a game-changer attitude. Knowing your linits makes allowing “failure” in your life much easier. And then, viewing the good sides of every “fail” is way easier too. Also, suddenly “failing” starts to feel more like a challenge uncomfortably solved, than a big life changing problem I wasn’t able to face.
The Autodidacts call this phenomena: “Viewing Life As An Strategy Game”.They unfolded that idea with detail in their essay. I’ll take that concept of life as a huge game and will focus more on sense of humor, humbleness, and simplicity as a cure to worries.
Let’s take a look at this quote of the autodidacts:
Depending on my attitude, the same situation can shift between the “this is a super annoying nuisance” category and the “ooh, this is an interesting challenge” category. Without changing anything about the actual circumstance, only my pespective on it, I can shift from being resentful, to relishing it as an opportunity to challenge myself against it.
Right now, at the time I’m writting this, I’m traveling at 80km/hr on a bus to an unfamiliar city on my country. I have some little things to do there. In the process of achieving my goal, a lot of steps could go wrong. I’m basically alone in this situation, nobody will respond for the consequences the choices I’m about to take could carry. So now I only have two options:
- I can, again, over-analize each step I’m about to take in the next few days previously, so I can reduce the chances of things going wrong. Or,
- I can focus on the present-precise moment I’m living now, trusting I’ll find a solution to every problem when it arrives.
The second one is the center of this essay. I think the first option is almost unachievable. Forcing ourselves to not to think in the future problems, is not always that easy.
I know that the consequences are pretty bad, and I also know that they are evitable if I just do every step carefully this week. And that exact fact is what makes me feel unease: It seems to only depend on me. I cannot carry that weight on my shoulders much longer. And it also feels ilogical to just force myself not to think about it. For me, it doesn’t make much sense.
Practice trusting our Dad.
Just a few hours ago I was watching the film “The Society Of Snow” on my phone. The trip was starting to feel long, but there were nine hours left.
I was laying half of my body on the window nearby me, at my right side. Then, suddenly, that window exploded and a lot of little crystals fell over me. I wasn’t hurt just because the rock that smashed the window and caused the crack, by miracle didn’t smashed me too. The bus stopped for half an hour or so to quite fix it, and then continued the trip.
Some may call that lucky. But I enjoy calling it “Work of my Guardian Angel”. Examples like this occur every day in my life. And in yours too, even if you don’t notice.
If God decided to solve this kind of little problems, why wouldn’t He solve the big ones?
Every project I have is His project too. At the very beggining of this trip, God and I had a little talk, and I let Him know that I’m wide open hearted to His will on this specific event in my life. I’m not carrying the weight of it in my shoulders anymore. I know (and I feel) that I will not face any challenge alone. I’m doing this journey with my Big Father, and He takes care of my and my project better than I do.
Things doesn’t go wrong if they just didn’t went as expected. If something I’ve planned didn’t went as expected, I don’t like to always call it a failure. Failure sounds more like all the effort were for nothing. And there is no useless effort for God’s view.
Conclusion.
Going back to the Autodidacts, let see life as a big amount of daily challenges. The goal of the whole thing is to respond at every challenge, in the more efficient way we manage to find in each situation. And that make “having problems to solve” a lot more interesting.
Added to the fact that we aren’t facing them alone. Obviously it will require some effort, but a big reward too. Its calming to know that God is carrying us every day. And knowing that failure also is allowed, helps the process be more enjoyable.
At the end of the day, at some point, our life is the perfect colision of the insignificant and the meaningful. Every little problem is previously observed by our Father, and we don’t need to carry anything alone. Also, solving problems as they were puzzle of a game, make life more enjoyable for us and for everybody around us.
Purpose.
Today, I want to focus on each moment as it is entirely unique. Today I want to let the weight I’ve carrying on fall behind me in God’s hands. Also, today I want to enjoy every little moment of the day.
I want to see every problem as a challenge possible to solve by me at the time they arrive. I want to enjoy the resting times, the working times, and the “problem solving” times too. I want to allow myself to fail, and to be grateful with God in those moments too.