ON WORRY

Question: My vision is deteriorating, and the doctors are saying that in 10 years I may go blind. I am really worried.

Hanuman: The demand to let go will serve us all very well when each of us finds ourselves on our deathbed. It won’t be uncharted territory; we will be ready. All the letting go beforehand, all the willingness to let go beforehand will keep us in good stead when the demand becomes so very urgent.

So, I understand there’s something scary on your plate. The possibility to be present in this moment is all the more urgent. It is a kind of Grace, if you will … not the possibility of losing one’s sight, but the urgency that this worry offers you.

Ten years from now, regardless of your vision, you will be ready for anything. Confidence and power will have been gained in preparation for this possibility of losing your vision. And that loss may not even come to pass!

Worry and depression are so understandable in this world of ours. There is so much suffering and so much sorrow, so much madness. And yet this life is very precious, and we don’t want to spend too much of it worrying. Worry has its place; it can be honored. But more importantly, it can be let go of. Our wisdom tells us: ‘Worry serves nobody.’

But we serve one another so well with our good cheer. So, let your worry remind you of the possibility of love and compassion

These bodies are so amazingly vulnerable. Anything can happen at any given moment. This we know. We are very vulnerable human beings deserving of immense compassion.