HOW TO COPE WITH LIFE- PART 2

So what is the purpose of a major crisis?

Human beings are supposed to be the most elevated creation on earth. We have the intellect, the ability to understand and comprehend. Unlike most of all other creation, we have been blessed with the ability to make choices.

Once something happens, we have to ask ourselves:

Who allowed it to happen? After all, no action can happen without a doer.

Even if we say force or natural force, where is it ultimately coming from?

We cannot find the answer; because, instead of questioning the Owner of all conditions, the one who caused these state of affairs to occur, we ask each other. And all we can come up with is theory, not the truth.

The truth is …

By this display of immense force, the Creator is manifesting His immense power. He wants to remind us who holds the ultimate control and power over all things. He is telling us to wake up from our oblivion, and acknowledge our vulnerability and recognize the glory of the Creator of all events.

All the calamities which befall us have one simple reminder from our Creator for all of us:

“You are not in control. I am in control.”

One can either surrender and accept with calmness such change and turmoil in life and that one has no control over or resist and fight it. It is much easier to trust our Creator and go with the flow until the situation comes to its natural conclusion.

On the other hand arrogance causes us to fight with and resist the larger events in our lives that we have no control over. We even accuse the One who caused it of corrupting and destroying our plans. We feel angry, humiliated, even guilty, that things did not unfold as planned.

However, who among us can say that we are immune to any suffering and that we can fend off any undesirable situation based on our intellect and money?

Consider the following example.

Natural disasters leave us helpless and broken, and exposes our true vulnerability. Regardless of technological advancements, we cannot protect ourselves let alone prevent them from happening. If nature unleashes its fury upon us, we are defenceless, rendering the state of the art protection we have built useless.

If the Creator is responsible for the creation and sublime order of the galaxy, where everything runs its perfect course to the most minute details, we have to acknowledge that such natural disasters are not accidents, mistakes or random events, they were deliberately released upon us a wake up call.

If the Creator is able to influence and create such forces of nature, then we have to realize that our current situations, whether a tweak in the stock market, a job loss, an accident, an illness, a death, or even a spilt glass of juice – are all events which are orchestrated the Creator.

The purpose of such reminders is to develop humility within ourselves and recognize that nothing happens by itself or at random. These events were planned and created.

What should we do?

Any humble person should question:

Why did the Creator create me? What does He want from me?

With this simple question we can start a journey of inquiry that can lead us to the light, comprehension and understanding.

With all our resources and abilities we tend to forget our inadequacies. When we get hit with reality, a situation which makes us paralyzed, puts us in the corner and makes us question our very existence; this is our first step towards coping.

We should remind ourselves that we are a creation for the purpose of submitting to the Creator, whether willing or unwilling.

Instead of worrying about and exhausting ourselves over how to prevent an unknown calamity, we should prepare ourselves to accept that the Creator is responsible for all events.

The One who is in control of everything. Just consider, we are not even in control of our own bodies. Any miniscule disruption to our bodily system, like insomnia or a headache, can cause us major disruption. If we don’t even have control over our own health, how do we presume to control all other external events that affect us?

Often, when things work out better than we planned, we tend to revert to our state of heedlessness and false sense of security, repeatedly giving ourselves credit for our own successes. We forget, that any event which happens in our lives, happens by is the will and grace of our Creator. And with success, we forget who we are, and with all our intellect, stop thinking, reflecting and pondering about the Creator.

When things do not go as we planned, it is a simple wake up call from our Creator.

If we accept this fact, life is easier. Think of a swimmer trying to swim against the current. No matter how strong the swimmer, it is a futile exercise which will exhaust and drown the swimmer. It is much easier to lie back and let the current take you where you were meant to go. It is the same with life. If we accept that whatever happens, whether good or bad, is by the leave of our Creator, we would find it easier to cope the next time things do not go that well.

Our Creator wants us to recognize Him, believe in Him, worship Him, show gratitude to Him, and believe with no doubt that we need Him in our lives.

Once we submit and acknowledge who is in control, we will realize that if things are not within our ability to change, what we should do is to submit – not only to the situation, but more importantly to the Orchestrator of such events.

We have to understand that the One who made the situation arise, is the same one who can make it go away and switch the condition to something better. If we submit to the Creator, rather than succumb to the situation, we will also be comforted in knowing that He is the only who can change the course of events for us. No one else, not a spouse, family, job, boss or influential people.

Apply this to all aspects of life. Any time events don’t go as planned, if we surrender to the higher power controlling the events, it will be easier for us to cope with any new situation, good or bad, in a calm and dignified way.

If we realize our limited station in life, admit to ourselves that any kind of comfort and happiness that we have created for ourselves is fake and transitory, our perspective on calamities will change.

Think; Contemplate; Seek knowledge:

Hidden among the suffering is the greatest blessing for us; the chance and ability to receive peace, tranquility, and happiness. The kind that no material success or man made gadget can provide for us.

Life is real with all its joy, suffering and pain. No matter how we try to avoid it, we are struck with calamities at various stages of our lives.

The question is, we can either become hysterical and angry at such changes, or, we can humble ourselves and submit to the One who established such circumstances.

Who has more dignity and tranquility?

The one who get angry, depressed, upset, or even guilty in the face of adversity?

Or the one who accepts the situation calmly, and surrenders to the creator of the situation to change the surrounding?