I’ve long held the belief to avoid placing your hope in things that are beyond your control. Because who knows how things will work out? The other side is not to worry about things that haven’t happened yet. Because who knows how things will work out?
Having no hope means no sense of positive expectation and the future can seem uncertain. It’s difficult to give things your all when you’re doubtful it will produce positive results. This leads us to this conclusion:
- Trust in your ability to comfortably handle uncertainty, knowing that no matter what happens you’ll be fine.
- Trust only the process, give that your all, and the result will take care of itself.
So we can’t be without hope or we’d lose our will to engage with life. But if we put 100% of our faith in it we definitely setting ourselves up for failure in the long term. So where does this leave us?
Trust The Climate Not The Weather
The weather is the daily state of the atmosphere of a region. It differs from day-to-day. Some days are hotter than others. Others are colder. Some winters start a little earlier and last longer. You may have unforeseen droughts, heavy floods and intense storms. The weather is short lived. It may last a few hours, a day or a season. But it’s constantly changing.
The climate is the average weather pattern of a region over a long period of time. It can be warm, cold, humid or rainy. That’s not to say that occasionally the weather might not match the climate. Generally speaking, it remains the same.
Metaphorically speaking, don’t place your trust in the weather. You don’t know what it’s going to like two weeks from now. Despite the weather forecast. Trust in the climate.
Be A Famer
You’re a farmer. You hope that the rain will be good this year. You know that it will rain this year, but you don’t know when and to what extent. There’s still a fair amount of uncertainty because it’s something beyond your control. But it’s still something that’s going to happen. There is the odd chance that there could be a natural disaster like a flood, hurricane or drought. In this case – trust you can handle uncertainty and trust the process.
What would really hurt you is if you expected the weather to be a certain temperature tomorrow and it wasn’t… Then getting disappointed by that. You placed your emotional well-being on things beyond your influence.
There’s a difference between what you’re hoping for and how or when it happens. Have faith that in the long-term things generally tend to work out one way or another. The crops will have a good harvest. If not this season then the next one, or the one after that. In the short term place your trust in your effort, your attitude and your behaviour.
Because honestly speaking, that’s all that you ever really need to control. That’s how you sow the seeds of the climate of your life.
Zen Transformation Coach 