Here Comes the Sun…

Snow fell on Texas last week as temperatures dropped to zero shutting down large swaths of North Texas.  To say that this is unusual is an understatement.  I wrote a friend of mine to see how he and his family were holding up and he said, “We have been without power for about 36 hours.”  My instinct was to express remorse that his family was going through a challenging time, but before I could even respond to his text he added, “It’s okay though.  My wife, kids and I have been playing board games, doing puzzle’s and listening to music.  We just making the best of it.”

That is the essence of my friend Kevin.  He always, without question, sees the sun coming.  I have tremendous respect for him.  He is the kind of husband and father we all long to be—dedicated to his wife and completely engaged in the lives of his children.  More importantly, he finds a way to see the silver lining in any situation.  We don’t talk often, but when we do, I also leave our conversations feeling a little bit brighter and more optimistic about life.  This is the greatest compliment that I can give to him.  In the face of adversity, he finds the path of opportunity.

It can be challenging when faced with adversity to see the gift that lurks in the shadow of the test of our will, however this is what defines all extraordinary people.  It is far too easy for us to lament about our troubles as opposed to finding and expressing gratitude for whatever situation we are in.  As I have gotten older; I have learned to accept that whatever situation is before me, at the level of my soul, I asked for the current circumstances to help guide me to my divine purpose.  We can’t always know “why”; we aren’t always supposed to know “how” something is happening, but without fail, it is for our greatest good.

This is why each morning when I arise for my morning yoga and meditation, I always begin my day with the same prayer.  I asked the Source, “Please bring me today whatever is for my greatest good and the greatest good of all.”  It should be noted, notice that I never ask “why” or “how” something will happen, only that whatever is brought before me throughout the day will assist my soul’s evolution.  This is faith.  This is trust.  This is surrender.

What I have found is that it is downright remarkable how many times something has happened to me that I first perceived as “bad” that turned out to be the biggest blessing in disguise that I could ever imagine.  God has a way of arranging our lives for our greatest good in every instance of our life.  The Divine’s Perspective on our lives is able to view our experiences with a complete 360-degree overview that we simply can’t see.  Things that we would most certainly resist become the very “gift” that we need in order to evolve.  We must simply abandon our own plans in complete submission to Divine Will and soon the doorway to completion with open.

Last year (2020) was a classic example of this.  Each of us were faced with the tearing away of the fabric of our lives and many struggled to accept what was presented to us.  The reality is that we were all afforded the opportunity to reevaluate our journey and to make decisions to either course correct or keep on a similar path.  There is no right or wrong in either decision or direction that we travel; we all got to choose and now as we are two months into 2021, we have the elegant opportunity to carve out a new pathway forward or build a deeper foundation on our current path.

I had mentioned to Adi in the first weeks of March 2020 that I was coming to a place in my life where I was going to completely surrender to the Will of the Divine.  As we walked through the beautiful property of the JW Marriott in Orlando, FL, I said to her, “My new mantra is Let They Will Be Done.”

Within a week the world shut down and most of the entire planet was quarantined.  As Adi and I were sitting in our home she casually mentioned to me, “Well, They Will Has Been Done.  What do you think?”

“God can slow Her Will down just a hair,” I responded.  “Sometimes it’s nice to be eased into things.”

With the luxury of hindsight, I can now see the beauty in the Creator’s Will.  I heard something recently that was really beautiful; Indian sage Ramana Maharshi was once asked about the state of the world during World War II.  Someone quiried, “How can you accept what is going on in the world?”  The normally taciturn sage responded, “Let the Creator take care of His Creation.”  Simple and elegant.  Nothing else needs to be said.

We are simply actors in the Creator’s Play.  We are assigned a role to play, and our job is to allow the Director, Writer and Producer to Create Her Magic (the Source has no gender therefore I like to use multiple pronouns, male and female).  Our job is to play our part as compassionately, contentedly and righteously as possible.

My friend Kevin knows this lesson well.  He embodies it every day.  He inspires me to be a better person.  So, when things get challenging, and the power gets turned off, do what my friend, Kevin, does.  Look for the sunshine because it is most certainly coming.  Play board games and build puzzles with your kids, listen to some music and dance with your spouse—enjoy being with the ones you love—God brought you this gift for you to cherish.  And most importantly, stay blessed on your journey, and bless those around you.  It’s always the little things we will remember when take our least breath and we close our eyes for the last time.

Sat Nam!