Dear Spiritual Companions,
Have you ever had the experience where you waited and waited for something to happen and then when it did you felt a letdown? It is like the very depressing Peggy Lee song, “Is That All There Is?” We just experienced Easter. If you are Christian, you had been waiting a long time for it to come. If you are not christian fill in an important religious event in your life or if you are not involved in a religion some personal event you have been waiting for in your life. What happens to us when it is over?
To me the buildup is never matched by the actual event. This is especially true the more importance I place on the activity. So what I do, sometimes, is not let myself get too excited about what is coming. I don’t want to be disappointed. Now I have lost the fun of the event and the time of anticipation. By making sure I am not disappointed, I now am for sure! Our minds are such interesting things and filled with so many nooks and craneys of pitfalls.
What is a person to do? Enjoy, enjoy enjoy! No matter what happens in life it is meant to be treasured. To me, that means enjoy. Appreciate the buildup for what it is – buildup. Anticipation is one of the gifts of life. It encourages us to appreciate the moment when it arrives. Obviously Easter is important to me so I want to be present to it when it happens. If I am then I can enjoy the gift no matter what form it takes. Even if it isn’t all I hoped it would be, I can learn from too much expectation. As the old saying goes, “Things are never what we hoped they would be.” Sounds depressing doesn’t it? Unless we let our life be dependent on our expectations.
Easter is a startling event because it is not what we expected. Some people are upset when things have been changed in our Easter celebrations. This may be startling to hear, but life is changing all the time. It is never the same. Sometimes our expectation is just the opposite and so we are disappointed when things are different. How silly! I don’t want every Easter to be the same. I want to be startled by the same story with a deeper understanding in my spirit. Isn’t that the case in your religious or personal event? Anything that is stagnant dies, anything that changes lives.
What do you think?
Gary