“It doesn’t have to be so hard.”
These words from a therapist years ago have often been recited in our household when one of us is feeling overwhelmed. When we are spinning in fear, anxiety, uncertainty, etc., we get bound up by our thoughts and emotions.
Life gets really hard. But the ancient wisdom book, the Tao Te Ching, reminds us it doesn’t have to be so hard.
The text of the Tao has a beautiful, one-of-a-kind way of articulating how the act of letting go makes life easier and better. Each of the 81 chapters proposes an antidote to overwhelm, helping us see through confusion, reminding us of what our deeper heart and wise mind already know.
Chapter 24 speaks to this theme of letting go:
Stretching to reach it, we fall.
Running to catch it, we get lost.
Pretending to be enlightened, we become dim and foolish…
All the strutting, striving, straining, and grasping is excess baggage.
The very freedom it promises does not appear until we lay it down.
The wisdom of the Tao is all about reorienting us when we feel lost. It reminds us that our essential, true self is energized and guided by Spirit. It frees us to become bright lights for others in a world that can feel so dim sometimes.
My upcoming 4-part Zoom class will explore 7 of these themes, each of which is a light that helps us navigate challenges in our lives (including things like tense elections). Together, these 7 themes form something of a spiritual operating manual for hard times. Here’s the link to sign up: https://sojournersinstitute.com/tao-te-ching-class
Here’s what we will be focusing on in our 4 sessions (with the 7 Tao themes in bold):
Week 1: Living in the age of overwhelm and scarcity consciousness; the gift of the Present Moment
Week 2: Learning the art of mental and emotional agility, understanding Opposites and Flexibility
Week 3: Engaging the power of release, practicing Acceptance and Letting Go
Week 4: Living in abundance consciousness through Effortless Effort and aligning with our True Nature
We will meet together for 4 Zoom sessions:
4 Wednesdays, Oct. 23 & 30, Nov. 6 & 13
7:00 to 8:30 CDT
Cost: $195
If you’d like to expand in any of these areas, and especially if things like the election are weighing on you, then I hope to see you there!