Life doesn't always go according to our Plan

Think back to a moment when a life situation did not turn out as planned - imagine the details as best you can. There may have been an expected outcome you had hoped for. You may have witnessed your well 
laid-out plans crumble before your very eyes. Take comfort since life does not always go according to plan.

Many ways suffering is provoked by the assumption that we have complete control over our lives. Detachment is a means of surrendering control, "…once aim is taken and the arrow is loosed from the bow, we can only wait in anticipation to see where it may land." The notion of control in an ever-changing and expanding universe is irrational in the context of outcomes. Those who seek control realize that it is like chasing a stubborn cat. 

By yielding to external forces, we allow life to reveal herself through us. We realize that every experience; every thought and emotion is in perfect alignment with the synchronous fulfillment of universal intelligence coursing through us. Letting go of how life should play out allows the orchestration of infinite possibilities to flow unimpeded. It may be viewed as having a wider range of possibilities arrange themselves for your benefit, instead of a limited few.


Handing over control requires faith and trust. Faith, that all your needs will be met in due course. Trust, that they will arrive when the time is right. How can this benevolent universe not deliver on its promise to look after you?  Faith is comparable to the inner knowing that your heart will pump oxygen rich blood to your organs each and every day, with acute precision. You needn't be concerned that it won't perform its task or that it might oversupply the arteries and organs. It delivers more blood to your working muscles when you exercise and less blood when you're asleep. How does it sense the variation in activity? What is it connected to or receiving instructions from in order to continually manage these resources?

Life is subject to perpetual change based on the law of impermanence. Nothing remains the same, not even the cells in your body which have a finite lifespan. Knowing this we can take comfort in the fact that transformation is inexorably linked to the human condition. Rather than oppose it, learn to work with it. The more you oppose the forces of life, the less control you have.

The essence of this principle is contained in the following passage, "Life is like sand held in your hands. Held loosely, with an open hand, the sand remains where it is. The minute you close your hand and squeeze tightly to hold on, the sand trickles through your fingers…" Rather than clutch tightly, yield to life's forces. Go with the flow. Albeit, this does not imply complete resignation nor indifference. If anything, it implies inner detachment.


If you are struggling to manage a life situation, release your expectation of an intended outcome by inviting a higher solution to permeate through your life. Rather than surrender to it, yield to the forces of life by allowing life to take you where it needs to.

Sometimes in life, the wrong turn can and will deliver us to the right place in time.

Author's website: Tony Fahkry