Thought for the Week
Murphy's Law states, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." There are times in life when it seems that the only law operating is Murphy's. With a little bit of thought and discipline we can steer clear of Murphy and his Law and learn how to go with the flow of life.
As we go through life, there are two plans we can go by, our own mental plan which we have worked out logically or Life’s plan. (We can substitute the word ‘Life’ for the Universe, Higher Power, God, Holy Spirit, etc.) Working our own plan can be fun until we hit problems and Murphy's Law kicks in. When this happens we are beginning to go against flow of Life. Our plan is driving us in a direction which doesn't fit with the other Souls and events around us. At times like these we need to step back and see what other options are available.
The arrival of the results of Murphy ’s Law, into our life can also be an opportunity to learn. We have just come to a point where we are now in a new territory. This is somewhere we haven’t been before. Somewhere we need to learn about and study so we can progress beyond this point. Our problems can be the beginning of something new and special. Here’s an old story to illustrate the point.
‘We’ll see’ story
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. His neighbour said.
“Such bad luck,”
“We’ll see,” the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses.
“How wonderful,” the neighbour said.
“We’ll see,” replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg.
The neighbour said “Such bad luck”.
“We’ll see,” answered the farmer.
The day after, the army came to the village to draft young men to fight for them. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbour congratulated the farmer on how lucky he was.
“We’ll see” said the farmer.
In this story was the farmer a victim of Murphy’s Law or was he going with the flow of life? The neighbour saw some of the events as Murphy’s Law and others as good luck. The wiser framer saw it as the flow of Life.
Go with the flow of Life
The opposite of Murphy's Law is probably, The Law of Love, with an emphasis on going with the flow of Life. We are moving our focus from power to love. We are no longer insisting on having things our way but going with the flow of events as they come to us. We are now open to changes to our plans, we are flexible. Instead of a fixed plan, with very specific outcomes, we still aim for a goal but we are more flexible in what the outcomes are.
It's a different attitude. It's like Rodney Jones mentioned in one of his recent posts, "Things in life don't happen to me, they happen for me". It begs the question, why is this thing happening for me? What benefit could I possibly get from the pain and trouble I’m going through at the moment? To get the answer to such a question requires a spiritual exercise of some sort.
Contemplation, Meditation or Prayer
A good way of getting into the flow of Life is to do a contemplation, meditation or say a prayer. The prayer should go along the lines of, ‘Let thy will be done, not mine’. In contemplation we can sing the holy word HU. It can be found in Alleluia (Allah and Hu put together). Here’s how we can use it.
Take some time to be quite and peaceful, with the attitude of calmly looking for a better understanding of the situation. Close our eyes, sing HU on our outgoing breath, for a maximum of fifteen to twenty minutes. Afterwards we should be a bit calmer and more tolerant of the situation. This HU exercise is something we should get into the habit of doing daily. It can help us connect with our true happy part of our selves, Soul, and help us get into the flow of Life.
To avoid Murphy’s Law we need a change of attitude. We are a partner with Life. We are part of It and It is part of us. When we get this partnership working to the point where we begin to accept that Life happens for us, then Murphy’s Law no longer applies. What happens in our life is all part of our learning, it is part of the plan Life has for us, to discover that we are Soul, a part of It, a part of Life.
Let’s go with the flow.
*Ed Parkinson
Murphy's Law states, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." There are times in life when it seems that the only law operating is Murphy's. With a little bit of thought and discipline we can steer clear of Murphy and his Law and learn how to go with the flow of life.
As we go through life, there are two plans we can go by, our own mental plan which we have worked out logically or Life’s plan. (We can substitute the word ‘Life’ for the Universe, Higher Power, God, Holy Spirit, etc.) Working our own plan can be fun until we hit problems and Murphy's Law kicks in. When this happens we are beginning to go against flow of Life. Our plan is driving us in a direction which doesn't fit with the other Souls and events around us. At times like these we need to step back and see what other options are available.
The arrival of the results of Murphy ’s Law, into our life can also be an opportunity to learn. We have just come to a point where we are now in a new territory. This is somewhere we haven’t been before. Somewhere we need to learn about and study so we can progress beyond this point. Our problems can be the beginning of something new and special. Here’s an old story to illustrate the point.
‘We’ll see’ story
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. His neighbour said.
“Such bad luck,”
“We’ll see,” the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses.
“How wonderful,” the neighbour said.
“We’ll see,” replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg.
The neighbour said “Such bad luck”.
“We’ll see,” answered the farmer.
The day after, the army came to the village to draft young men to fight for them. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbour congratulated the farmer on how lucky he was.
“We’ll see” said the farmer.
In this story was the farmer a victim of Murphy’s Law or was he going with the flow of life? The neighbour saw some of the events as Murphy’s Law and others as good luck. The wiser framer saw it as the flow of Life.
Go with the flow of Life
The opposite of Murphy's Law is probably, The Law of Love, with an emphasis on going with the flow of Life. We are moving our focus from power to love. We are no longer insisting on having things our way but going with the flow of events as they come to us. We are now open to changes to our plans, we are flexible. Instead of a fixed plan, with very specific outcomes, we still aim for a goal but we are more flexible in what the outcomes are.
It's a different attitude. It's like Rodney Jones mentioned in one of his recent posts, "Things in life don't happen to me, they happen for me". It begs the question, why is this thing happening for me? What benefit could I possibly get from the pain and trouble I’m going through at the moment? To get the answer to such a question requires a spiritual exercise of some sort.
Contemplation, Meditation or Prayer
A good way of getting into the flow of Life is to do a contemplation, meditation or say a prayer. The prayer should go along the lines of, ‘Let thy will be done, not mine’. In contemplation we can sing the holy word HU. It can be found in Alleluia (Allah and Hu put together). Here’s how we can use it.
Take some time to be quite and peaceful, with the attitude of calmly looking for a better understanding of the situation. Close our eyes, sing HU on our outgoing breath, for a maximum of fifteen to twenty minutes. Afterwards we should be a bit calmer and more tolerant of the situation. This HU exercise is something we should get into the habit of doing daily. It can help us connect with our true happy part of our selves, Soul, and help us get into the flow of Life.
To avoid Murphy’s Law we need a change of attitude. We are a partner with Life. We are part of It and It is part of us. When we get this partnership working to the point where we begin to accept that Life happens for us, then Murphy’s Law no longer applies. What happens in our life is all part of our learning, it is part of the plan Life has for us, to discover that we are Soul, a part of It, a part of Life.
Let’s go with the flow.
*Ed Parkinson
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