Many years ago I came across a book by Alan
Watts called The Wisdom of Insecurity.
It's one of those books that you don't really
need to read to understand the message - the
title pretty much says it all.
This past year has reminded me of that
message - namely, that attempting to do away
with uncertainty and insecurity is a doomed
strategy. Life is full of uncertainty. It
always has been, it always will be, and to
pretend otherwise is to start from a false
premise. But there's a wisdom in it being
this way.
Much of our insecurity springs from a fear of
the unknown. We associate security with
familiarity, believing that if only things
would stay the same then we'd have nothing to
worry about. Yet we live in a time of
constant and rapid change, in which all of
the traditional stable forms and structures
are being broken down and reshaped.
Times like these are agony for the ego mind,
but the soul seems to thrive in such
challenging conditions, recognizing as it
does an opportunity for accelerated growth
and expanded consciousness when it sees one.
If the ground we've been building on turns
out to be quicksand, perhaps it's time to dig
deeper rather than to simply build again in
the same old way.
As we approach the beginning of a new year,
its an excellent time to take stock of your
priorities, not just your goals, your values
rather than your valuables. Real security is
what remains when all the false securities
have been stripped away, just as real wealth
is what's left when you think you've lost
everything.
Will the world get worse before it gets
better? Probably. Should we be scared?
Probably not. Chances are we'll look back in
hindsight and see that what was lost was well
worth losing, and what was gained was worth
so much more. A peaceful new year to you.
