REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
Why is it that so many of us believe we are in full control of our fate, and that we are to be praised when we succeed and criticized when we fail.
If we think about it, there is certainly much that is out of our control at the starting gate. Among other things, this includes our genetic make-up and our susceptibility to illness, the economic and family environment into which we are born, our inherited physical capabilities, the socio/political environment etc.
To put it succinctly, whether we like it or not, in this life we play the hand we are dealt. It doesn’t matter if you believe that hand was a random event or dictated by your karma, it’s still the same hand. You can work with it or choose to work against it, but you cannot overestimate the “power of beginnings” in how we are shaped in later life.
Put another way, while it is true that we can choose how to respond to difficulties, and that our response can have the potential to lead to a happier more resilient outcome, nonetheless, “initial conditions” are powerful determinates of our future.
I bring this up because I often meet with clients who are facing unexpected harsh realities with incomprehension. Their default train of thought begins by thinking “how could such a thing have happened to me?” They ask themselves what was their contribution to the problem, trying to figure out what they have done to bring it about, what sin committed, what food eaten, what error in judgement, what karmic debt is being paid.
The fact is that when facing challenges we often need a more comprehensive response than self-recrimination one the one hand or positive thinking on the other. While it is true that we contribute to our fate we must also acknowledge the limitations of our understanding and push the boundaries of our love.
While the law of actions and consequences always applies, as we age we invariably sense the long arm of the past reaching out shaping and effecting our current lives. At that point we may recognize that many forces guide us and what drives our choices is often a mystery. In the midst of strength there is always frailty and fragility and everything that is composed must decompose.
