When you trust Life, you will not suffer!

Trust Life. Know that, even in your darkest hours, you will be taken care of.

Sometimes Life will bring you to a point where everything will seem so hopeless. You may be plunged into an abyss and will be staring into the darkness. You may even wonder if your Life will ever be normal again – free from all the suffering that you are having to go through!This is when you must learn to trust Life. When nothing else seems possible, know that if your trust in Life is intact, then everything’s possible!

Here’s a Zen story to illustrate this. A warrior had just got married and was returning home with his bride. They were crossing a lake in a boat when suddenly a great storm arose. The woman was very afraid because it seemed almost hopeless – the boat was small and the storm was a mighty one. It seemed certain that their small boat would capsize any moment and because of the way the lake’s water was being churned it looked like they both would drown in it. But the warrior sat silently, calm and quiet, as if nothing was happening.

The woman was trembling and she said, "Are you not afraid? This may be the last moment of our Life! I don’t think we can make it to the shore in this kind of weather. Only some miracle can save us, otherwise death is certain. Are you not afraid? Are you mad or something? Are you a stone or something?" 

The warrior laughed and pulled out his sword from its sheath. The woman was puzzled – what was he is doing? Then he brought the naked sword close to the woman's neck – so close that it was almost touching her neck. 

He asked his wife, "Are you afraid?" 

She replied calmly, "Why should I be afraid? If the sword is in your hands, why should I be afraid? I know you love me."

The warrior put the sword back and said, "This is my answer too. I trust Life. The storm at this time, when we are crossing this lake, is Life’s way of testing us. My Life, your Life, everything around us, including this storm, is created by Life. So, why worry? Whatever is going to happen is going to be good. If we survive, great. If we don’t, great again – because we were given, gifted, this Life without our asking for it. So what if it is taken without us being asked?”

This is a remarkable perspective on trusting Life. If we can internalize this, then we can face and live through any storm in Life.

Life cannot be lived with logical reasoning all the time. Many a time situations will arise when you will realize that nothing’s in your control. You can cry foul, you can beat your chest, you can say that Life is unfair, you can say that there is no God and that all your faith in a higher energy was in vain – you can say whatever you want, but the Life that you are facing at that moment cannot be changed or escaped. That reality has to be faced and lived through. In such situations, the only quality that can help you be at peace within is trust. When you trust Life, irrespective of what’s happening, you can see it through or you can perish with it. Anything’s possible. But at least you will be at peace with yourself and, importantly, you will not be suffering!