The Giant Oak, And More Secrets to Happiness

I'm thinking about these beautiful words today, "A storm by its very nature seeks to move on, and a tree's grace is that it has no hands" (M. Nepo).

The picture you are viewing is that of the giant oak tree that graces our front yard and shields our house from the hot, summer sun. My guess is, the tree is fifty or more years of age. Can you imagine the wind and rain, snow and storms it has weathered in those many years?

Countless storms, no doubt.

So, what is its secret of survival? Could it be its flexibility? Flex-ability. It moves with the wind and rains instead of rigidly resisting them. Furthermore, it has no hands. That is it's "grace," as Nepo puts it. Which means, the tree does not cling to the difficult winds but allows them to come and go as storms typically do.

That has occurred to you, hasn't it? That a storm, even the most violent ones, never last very long?

If you are like me, however, unlike a giant oak tree, we, on one hand, are prone to resist life's storms. We want everything to be peaceful 24/7. We go through the day trying desperately to keep the peace, to make peace, or to preserve peace. It is exhausting, isn't it? Like trying to control a forest fire in the dry, California hills.

Yet, in our better moments - like this very one - we know that we rob ourselves of the richness of life by rollicking in some illusion that we can actually avoid all of life's storms. We cannot, of course. Nor should we. The Buddha reminded us that life will come as a mixture of pleasure and pain. Jesus demonstrated the same.

On the other hand, we have a tendency to cling to some difficulties... some storms... perhaps because they give us some definition, some measure of identity? Something about ourselves to talk about when someone asks, "So, how are you today?"

"Oh, so glad you asked," we respond. "Let me tell you." And then, we proceed to describe all the difficulties of life that won't go away (or, more honestly, we will not release).

Today, may I suggest that we meditate on both the flexibility, as well as the grace, of the giant oak tree. Resist not what comes your way - even if it is some unwanted storm. Further, cling not to any of life's experiences this day, good or bad, or however you're prone to label them. Instead, enjoy the pleasures, survive the pains, but be at peace with both.

This is the secret of happiness.

I've put up an entire post on my blog about this (and written a whole book about this and other matters related to the spiritual life), and I'd love to share some of the things I've learned with you. To get started, visit this article I recently posted at my blog http://www.stevemcswain.com/blog.