What matters most is how well you walk through the fire. -Charles Bukowski
http://bukowski.net/
This is the title of a book by Bukowski, as well as one of his poems. And it says so much.
And as the angels say . . .
It may be easy to have trust and faith when the stream is smooth and mellow, no highs, no lows, everything status quo. The challenge is to maintain that faith and trust even if the stream unexpectedly changes direction, dries up, or floods.
Faith and trust are as important to beauty as they are to difficulty. Did you know that? Otherwise fear can take over—fear that we cannot handle so much beauty, that we do not deserve it, that it is all a mistake, and we will lose it. We begin to identify with our thoughts. We forget we are everything and so we try to control everything. Then we cannot enjoy even the good things that come to us.
People often pray for strength to bear their “bad karma.” Angels say, if you are going to pray, then pray for the strength to bear both the “bad” and the “good.” Strength and courage are as necessary to beauty as they are to difficulty.
Row your boat merrily. Life is but a dream. Life is but a stream, a flow of consciousness. Do not seek to change the world to suit your list of preferences. Look instead to see which way your life is flowing and allow yourself to come into harmony with that flow.
