This time of year always has a turning point feel to it - though, you could validly say that about any moment, as the entire universe continually turns on the head of a pin - and turning points bring with them decisions - do you go this way in your life, or that, in respect of both the little things and the large, the details and the greater picture in terms of direction, location, personnel or career path. However, according to Taoism, decisions are already made for you by the inevitable outcome of billions of years of cause and effect that have finally led the world and you to this current state and is about to lead you further - but it would be crude to assume this implies a laissez faire, fatalistic approach. The debate on free will versus destiny will never be won by either side - that much we know we don't know. You can determine the mode in which you intend to undergo each and every experience - easy or difficult, for instance; you can set the tone and temperature, as it were - happy or sad, warm or cold, for example; and you can even determine an intended outcome in principle - successful or unsuccessful, say - but the way the details work themselves out seems to be a matter exclusively for the Tao, the Great Way (of cause and effect) itself to sort out. Your task, in making decisions, rather than forging something out of nothing, then boils down to humbly discerning where the path is taking you next and who with. Then waiting patiently, everything will become evident of itself. This requires surrendering to the moment - relaxing into not knowing what comes next – and being still and silent enough inside to hear the prompts from your innermost self, that level of self synonymous with the Tao, which actually knows everything and which will tell you to do this or do that. But you have to breathe slowly and mindfully, otherwise your mind panics and it's this very panic that produces all the obfuscating noise. Then remain alert and ready to follow these urges - that's the art part of the process - responding instantaneously with action or words to the prompts and, step by step, the path will magically, mysteriously and majestically, reveal itself.
