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Sunday, July 6, 2014

THE LIMITS OF MAGICAL THINKING

"Those who are not governed by reason take the chance that someday the sunken fact will rip the bottom out of their boat."
~Oliver Wendell Holmes~
 
I used to do a fair amount of "magical" thinking. I used the power of intention to drive me with a kind of fearful urging towards a specific outcome, and then, when the outcome didn't play out exactly as I had intended, I figured I had done something wrong. I believed that there was a guaranteed path to achieve my vision, and if it didn't work out, I must have somehow missed a step along the way. I made no room in this approach for flow or grace or serendipity. I was all about tunnel vision and drive.
     I understand now that I have to take responsible action in the direction of my intended result, but then I have to leave it alone. I have to let go. Some things are better left undone and unaccomplished, and that is how the highest good is served.
 
I can't see the view from every angle, so I have to trust that if something is working out or not working out in a surprising way, there are forces greater than me at work, and somehow or other, even if I can't see it or understand it, all will be well in the end.