The only certainty in life is change.
The only certainty in life is death.
That's interesting. These are precisely the two issues we have been dealing with collectively in recent weeks. We can't look away, we can't run away.
This frightens many people. But we cannot run away from it either! It lurks everywhere, in a newspaper article, on the radio, in a graphic, a picture... and makes itself felt at an unexpected moment.
Perhaps we should not pretend that it does not exist in our lives.
Perhaps we should face it courageously.
Perhaps we will then come to the conclusion that it is like a shadow ghost that disappears when we shine light on it!
That's how I feel. Over and over again.
My greatest fears, even those of death, turned out to be nothing more than a big balloon that dominated my entire thinking, my view of life, and made me feel helpless and small. But the moment I courageously set out to get closer to this balloon of fear, it's as if I touch the balloon with a needle and it shrinks. What remains is a small pile of empty rubber skin.
The view becomes clear. And I realize that our life is infinitely precious. I recognize everything I have—family, friends, a roof over my head, enough to eat, more or less good health, birdsong in the springtime nature, sunshine, the often-maligned computer.
I also recognize what I don't have. No unnecessary social contacts, no unrestricted mobility, no (leisure) stress, few appointments, no traffic noise, no traffic jam reports, no smog.
But also: no security, no idea about the future, no plan...
I can deal with this wonderfully by focusing on the moment. Or I should rather say "as long as" I do this. Because, of course, I am anything but a miracle worker or enlightened enough to always succeed in doing so.
However, when I live in the here and now (see Eckhart Tolle, among others), my heart expands with gratitude and happiness. My gaze falls on so many things that make life worth living—and I find peace. To recharge my batteries for another "now," in which creativity, constructive work, and perseverance will be required.
With Easter just around the corner, I am reminded of something my father-in-law used to say: "Don't worry about things that haven't happened yet!" That was his motto, and he remained true to it until the end of his active 99-year life.
So I hope that you will only think about colorful eggs hidden somewhere on Easter Sunday—which, incidentally, are a symbol of new life after death—and that you and those around you will be spared from serious problems due to the current situation. And I hope that you can use the profound changes that are now affecting everyone to realign your lives a little bit more with what makes your heart sing.
Let us harness the transformative power of Easter!
Hopefully, at the end of May, we will be able to mountain hiking, qigong, and alkaline fasting IRL