The Ultimate Joy Ride

 

The universe is so damned accommodating.  It gives us what we ask for.

When I finally did more than bang my gums about my life’s purpose and actually committed myself to living it, I awoke duct-taped to a shooting star.

It’s not like I’m tracking to be Bruce Springsteen.  All I committed to was growing my capacity to love.  Next thing I know I’m forever face-to-face with fear, pain, anger, rage, unforgiveness, judgment, beliefs, addictions and all the whatnot I need to make friends with in order to fulfill this commitment.  Don’t be surprised to find me still working on this many incarnations down the road.

Nearly a couple hundred years ago Ralph Waldo Emerson said something like, “Every word is a prayer and every prayer is answered.”  What he might’ve added was, “...whether we like it or not.”

While (generally) I like it just fine, there are days I’m screaming, “Alright already.  Can’t we just slow down a minute?”

But of course the answer is not really.  Once we put the inexhaustible power of our will in service of what our heart wants most, “control” takes a backseat as we embark on the ultimate joy ride through hell and high water to discover within us the sanctuary of acceptance where we take our self less and less seriously.

Here’s what an expert had to say on the subject, the enlightened Paramahansa Yogananda:

A strong will, by its own dynamic force, creates a way for fulfillment of its intention.  By its very strength, the will sets into motion certain vibrations in the atmosphere; and nature, with its laws of order, system, and efficiency, thereupon responds by creating favorable circumstances.  Will derives its greatest strength from an honest purpose, lofty motives, and a noble solicitude for doing good to the world at large.  A strong will is never stifled; it always finds a way.