I love “Maybe” the Zen parable, which teaches us not to be so quick to label and judge anything that happens to us as either good or bad. Without knowing what is still to come we have no way of really knowing the reality of the situation.
If we miss one door opening, who is to say another, even better one isn’t awaiting us, further down the road, which means the missed opportunity turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
When we label and judge something, an event or situation, we base that opinion on our expectations or preferences, and in doing so, we are playing into what is commonly known as the “pain gap”.
The pain gap is the difference between our expectations/ preferences and our reality as we perceive it, regarding a situation or event. If there is an imbalance between the two, we feel a negative emotion.
For our well-being, we should avoid imposing preconceived expectations or preferences onto situations. We should instead be prepared to ride the waves of life, and be fully accepting of what comes our way. Stop resisting “what is” and accept it for what it is, after all it’s here and resisting it, by wishing it wasn’t so, really doesn’t make it go away.
Sure, aim to get out of undesirable circumstances and situations, but face what life is giving us in the moment, accept it fully, face it, feel it and then move forwards positively to get out of it.
Check out our well-being/spirituality guide for more information