Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today, we're going to talk

about letting change happen.

So there are times in our life when

things shift and change quite suddenly.

It's almost as if yesterday, the

world was one way and we wake

up today in a whole new realm.

Maybe it's because the relationship

comes to an end, or we find out that

we need to move house or change jobs.

We might get some shocking news on a

phone call, or maybe it could be that

we're hearing news headlines that global

circumstances have changed in some way.

And you know, in these times it's

disorienting and it's often scary.

So when we're facing the unknown like

this, sometimes we scramble for some

sense of certainty again, some sense of

safety in whatever form we can get it.

Other times we get emotionally

reactive as our expectations for

what we wanted to happen are dashed.

So a lot of the time, we don't even

realize that we had these unconscious

expectations of what would happen.

We just expect things to

go the way we plan them to.

And so a lot of the time when things

change, we feel really put out.

But the truth is nothing was ever solid.

Nothing was ever fixed or permanent.

Everything is transitory and

in a state of flux and flow.

Now life itself is a constant unfolding

process of change and we cannot

control how it's going to unfold.

This is really important to remember.

Lao Tzu says, "Life is really a series

of natural and spontaneous changes.

Don't resist them.

That only creates sorrow.

Let reality be reality.

Let things flow naturally forward

in whatever way they like."

This also reminds me of a Bruce

Lee quote from one of his movies

where he's teaching martial arts.

And he tells one of his students

in the movie to be like water.

In other words, to be fully present in

each moment and meet whatever arises

with openness and acceptance and a kind

of fluidity, an adaptability rather than

needing it to conform to our desires.

So yeah, to be like water is this

sort of sentiment of being very

light on our feet and meeting things

as they arrive in the moment and

just working with the flow of life.

I really love this, you know.

And in this way, instead of

resisting the change, we kind

of meet it with this spirit of

curiosity, openness and adventure.

So, this is the invitation for

practice today is to just let

change happen as best you can.

Of course, we still may need to take some

time to ground ourselves in mindfulness

and compassion when the change kind

of hits us, but also seeing if you can

hold your expectations lightly, embrace

uncertainty and allow impermanence to

be part of the adventure of your life.

As always, thank you for your practice

and your presence here with us.

And let's begin to settle in

now for today's meditation.