Embracing Calamity

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“Only he who is willing to give his body for the sake of the world

is fit to be entrusted with the world.  

Only he who can do it with love

is worthy of being the steward of the world.”

                    ~Lao Tsu

Embracing calamity as a sacrament of Life is part of the Way and a Truth that we all must face though few choose to accept.  We don’t search for adversity, nor deliberately put ourselves in the path of hardship, but we should never give over to the woe of the moment either.

It is a difficult task to remain calm in times of crisis, even more so to be thankful for the opportunity to experience the tribulation.  I am learning this lesson even as I type this.  I’m one that has embraced addictions rather than battle them because I couldn’t find a reason to fight them, but in embracing myself I learned to love myself, and through that journey I was given an opportunity to find remorse (to compel me to make better use of the time I have left and hope that such a thing be possible).  Through that remorse I now battle the temptations to return to addiction.  My sobriety is important to me, yet I HATE having to go through the cravings and I get so bitter towards the chemical imbalance I must face on a daily basis.  For over two decades I used alcohol as my evening escape, so come 5pm, my body expects to be indulged with dopamine and endorphin’s and it becomes agitated and disgruntled at my lack of pursuit for the euphoric effects it has come to rely upon.

I now have a choice!  I can whimper, whine, and mewl like a child over my plight, or I can embrace the trial and be thankful I’m even given the opportunity to become someone different than before, someone I’ve known only inside myself….I’ve been in my inhebriated cocoon for far too long, and my writing is a direct result of me starting to emerge from that long slumber.

The time of the drunk is over, the wretch served it’s purpose, and the boozer had his tasks to perform, but a new man is being formed for the tasks ahead, one capable and deserving of such responsibility, and this current tempest that tosses me about daily is just the right environment to finish the mold of the man already born.

I embrace myself and the Life as it unfolds; I Live in the Now….

17 thoughts on “Embracing Calamity”

  2. Our attitudes make such a difference in how we experience our lives. I have battled addiction as well, and I too, have a choice. I choose to accept myself for who I am, and to love myself enough to choose sobriety despite the power of cravings and no matter what life throws at me. I also choose to love and accept the part of me that is my “inner addict”. While that part of me has led me into despair and misery, he is still a part of me, and when I embrace him and take him into my being as a whole, he is tempered by the other parts of my being, and loses his control over my actions.

  6. At each turning point upon reaching for relief, you can reclaim your personal power to choose again and again. Those who seek to escape bears little courage. Allow yourself to be that magnificent soul whom you have come to be. Be still. Many blessings to you.

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