Miracle of your own existence

If you find yourself pushing too hard at certain moments for things to work out and you've noticed it’s causing you to tense up, stop for a moment – at least for long enough to read this – and become aware of your physical situation.

Discern how you’re holding your body, and the degree to which your shoulders and upper back are straining, or your lower back is stiffening. Check whether your breath is moving irregularly and roughly, and if your thoughts are racing through your brain.

Do you like the feeling – I mean the feeling in your body right now ? If not, slow your breath down. Relax your shoulders and let them drop. Soften your upper back. Soften your face. Soften your belly. Soften your lower back and relax it in direction backwards to reduce arching. Compare how you feel now to how you felt before you did all this.

Then appreciate what an ineffable miracle your existence is. Not just as an abstract intellectual concept – though it’s a fine abstract concept to entertain – but as a real flesh and bones reality here and now in this present moment. And acknowledge the obvious fact that anything more than that – your plans working out, for instance – is just a bonus.

Like this, you give a moment’s space to the Tao of your life so it can better organize itself according to your best interests. Don’t be surprised if within even moments of having done all this, you suddenly notice things swinging your way in a most surprising turn of events.

Yours is the gift of the ineffable miracle of your own existence now.