Houston…we have a problem.

Our world is falling apart. Or rather, our people are falling apart. It’s kind of funny if you think about it; in the 50’s, all the Sci-Fi books pointed towards the future and all they wanted was a perfect little Utopia. A place with no war, disease, hunger, nothing. Of course, twisted little creatures that we are, we even fucked it up in print. :-)

Just imagine what those authors would think of our world today. They would probably die from the shock. But it’s not the shock of the world that would do them in. It’s the people that walk the Earth that would kill them.

See, deep down, they all seemed to believe that Mankind would become better in the future. It’s sad that they were SO mistaken.

We have become a people consumed by fear. Fear of loss, of violence, pain, the dark, snakes, spiders, intimacy, and even, or rather especially, each other.


Mankind is the top of the food chain! So how is it that the “lower” animal species live life better than we do?

Did you know that whales mate for life? No 50+% divorce rate for them.
Or that a mother duck will pretend to be hurt to lure a predator away so her babies can escape? That’s a good parent!

I think we suck so bad at life because we allow ourselves to be ruled and dominated by fear. And do you know what EVERYONE’S biggest fear is?

Not being in control of their own life.

We constantly do ridiculous things to prove that we are in control, that we are in charge. Hell, we kill each other to prove it.

Well, I’m going to burst your bubble, and probably scare the shit out of you. :-)

YOU ARE NOT NOW, AND NEVER WILL BE, IN CONTROL.

Don’t believe me? Let’s start simple. :-)

OK…sitting right there, stop breathing. Or stop your stomach from digesting, or your cells from aging. Better yet…stop gravity from pulling you downwards. Just for a moment. (Email me immediately if you can achieve this one!)

Let’s get a bit more complex now. Because I can hear what you’re thinking…What about MY choices??

You make choices every day. Thousands of them. In fact, some choices are BECAUSE of other choices. That’s not control. Let’s take an easy one. The choice to eat. There is a table, full of your favorite foods, in front of you. Do you choose to eat it?

Let’s choose no. :-) Behind that choice is probably a hundred different reasons, thoughts, desires, memories, hurts, and what not. That doesn’t sound like YOU are freely in control of that choice. :-)

Let’s say YES! Again, the choice is predicated upon hundreds of different reasons, thoughts, memories, bodily urges, etc. And again, it doesn’t sound like YOU’S in control.

Control of anything is an illusion, a sham, a great human wish to be Lord God and Master. And it is THE source of our biggest fear and greatest frustration.

So what CAN we do?

“Let go!” – Obi wan Kenobi – “Star Wars”

That’s it. Let go. Come to terms with this and simply let it go. Stop trying to force the world and the people in it to conform to YOUR wishes. Let it go. Accept it as it is and live here and now, the way things actually are.

It seems that the more you fight against this…the harder things become. You know…there is a reason that some types of trees are able to withstand furious hurricanes and tornados. You know why? Because they don’t try to withstand and fight the fury. They bend and flow and go with it, until it’s spent. Then they stand up again and enjoy the sunshine.

I think that’s a key for us to learn in this constant struggle for control. A tree doesn’t fight for control…it just is. It doesn’t concern itself with what the neighbors are doing, or anything else.

In the words of the ancient Zen masters…”Be like tree!” :-)

We make our world complicated and hard enough as it is. Stop fighting everyone and everything for a control that you will NEVER really have. Let’s all try to make life simpler…rather than more complex. Shall we?

Start by giving up what you THINK you are in control of. It’ll be scary and hard…but don’t worry. I’ll be right here with you, smiling as you succeed. :-)