As summer wanes, I hear people on my right and left sigh, "Pity, summer is over. So many summer plans still wait, yet the season is going away." Well, of course, saying goodbye is not easy, be it loved people or a favorite season. Our thoughts are on the wings of September, beginning the last quarter of 2023, which is not far, and the year will be bidding farewell. We cannot hold on to time and tide; the least is, we sigh and grumble, but things meant to go will find their way. Our attitude to transient life would be to go with the flow. Let go of things in transition and accept what remains.
The significant life challenge is that we cannot control the moving forces in life. Summer shall fade and pave the way to fall and fall to winter just as happy moments last as meant to be. We want to hold on to joyous chapters in life, but the pages need to be turned to complete our life story. We may bookmark our favorite pages and re-read them at times. Letting go is a skill required to keep peace within our beings. For gardeners, it might be a vegetable or a flower they wanted to enjoy more, a beach trip that was planned but didn't happen, or a visit to see a relative or friend: these did not fall into the summer happenings. But the secret bowers of life whisper, "All that is not gotten is not yet lost; they appear with the grace of times." Regretting and sighing over disappointments is expected, but it is incredibly healing to the self to accept and move on to the following days. Harping on our frustrations adds to negative energy, for words have power. One way to look at things not going in our practice is to recognize the factors that came on the way. No doubt there were valid reasons since it all adds to the present life. We cannot see through the cracks, but our failures often save us from harm. Peaceful acceptance of life happenings, to understand that we are not in control is to blend with the flow- life does not look back but moves on forward.
Gradual changes in seasons initiate changes in clothes, food, and others and adjust to the air around us. When lairs of happiness shrink or expand, the inner being finds peace in accepting. Joy and sorrow walk hand in hand; when life presents us with joy, the sadness is less, and vice versa. In a way, they are two melodies taking our emotions up and down with life songs. The games of life are like checkerboards; some patterns and colors play with each other. We agree to disagree on life aspects beyond our control, and we adjust to synchronize with the more significant plans of the Creator. While science and technology encourage us to realize facts, there is a deeper truth beyond human knowledge. We surrender to the deeper unknown and trust that fate leads us to things yet to come. Summers will go, and springs shall come- the universe unfolds outside and inside us. The mantra of inner peace snuggles in accepting and adapting to life situations and moving on to the subsequent phases. We may grumble and cry, but yesterday's happening could not be undone. Yesterday's rose lingers in the memory for the fragrance it spread; the times gone nestle in the sweet memories they hold. Our physical death takes us away from the Earth; before that, a part of us dies with every passing second in the movements we create. In our universal existence, if we are the trees, leaves, fruits, and flowers from our beings dance to seasons. We exist to blend with life, come summer or winter. Roy T. Bennett, in The Light in the Heart, says, "Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you must give up what weighs you down."
Tulip Chowdhury writes
from Massachusetts, USA
