Imagine for a minute a life without strife.
That’s exactly what this verse of the Tao te Ching proposes. Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria I would often hear my mother say “Oh Life what a Strife.” As a kid I didn’t know what it meant at the time but the phrase seeped into my subconscious and stayed there for a very long time. Luckily I got into spiritual teachings and self-help material in my early 20s, so right as I was having to fend for myself, the notion of life being a strife was being challenged by this new information of ease and abundance. Although I resonated with what the books/quotes would say, in the back of mind I still harbored the idea that to be human was to suffer. That to be human meant to toil, sweat, labor in pain as I had been taught in the book of Genesis, after Adam and Eve were banished from their home.
We’re inundated with the message of capitalistic ambition and hustle from a young age, that we don’t realize there’s an alternate route to take until much later in life after we’ve exhausted ourselves. I’m grateful to be alive now because we’re blessed with so much information that wasn't shared freely prior to our generation. The words ‘abundance’ and ‘manifestation’ weren’t used nearly as often as they are now. Manifestation is living life without strife, in the way Laotzu describes. There are things I’ve stressed about, prayed about (in the traditional, begging God sense) and those things never became a reality. But when I started to give mindfulness and intentional living a shot, I realized that I was more receptive to attract/manifest the things/circumstances/people I needed with ease.
The idea of pounding the pavement is dead. With the right intention and a well written email, I’m able to manifest what it may take someone else 5 years of “hard work” to “make happen”. I’m not proposing that we let go of work ethic etc, but living life without strife lets you know where to place your energy and where not to.
The other key elements I got from this passage, was the importance of being in the present moment and learning to let go - Let Go and Let God. I’m choosing to let go of this Santa Claus theory of having to play nice so as to not offend God, because then I’ll be on the naughty list and suffer in hell for all eternity. If I was made in the image and likeness of God, then shouldn't I feel entitled to the goodness and beauty of life? Society has given the word ‘entitlement’ such a negative connotation, but for me it just simply means that I’m deserving of a good life. Like why not? That’s where a lot of our doubt, self worth issues come into play because we truly don’t believe that we deserve goodness. We’re taught to believe that success doesn’t come unless you suffer and potentially step on people to get where you’re going because “that’s what it takes.” Once again that’s dead. Maybe that’s how things went on in the past, but we’re literally witnessing a new earth being born from within us - a more inclusive, collaborative approach to life.
It helps me when I realize that no one really knows where they are in this endless universe. It’s up to each and every one of us to help each other find our way to a vision of a destination that we ourselves create as we go. I’ve lived majority of my life looking to impress because that’s what I thought it was about. But that’s stressful as fuck. I’m choosing to live my life simply. Not a life without desire, but a life that’s not regretting the past or stressing about the future, that I miss out on the right now. I’m a huge believer in divine timing/manifestation. I know that what is for me won’t pass me by if I take the necessary steps, but I also have to be able to leave what is out of my control up to the universe to handle.
My keyword for this year and essentially for the rest of my life is gratitude. It makes such a huge difference to be grateful bro! What’s the point of being unhappy and depressed because of what is supposedly “missing” in my life?
Here’s to living a life lived with intention. gratitude. love, for self and others. Knowing that all I need will be taken care of for I am a child of the universe that’s deserving of a beautiful life.
Ai-Creo