no one said life would be easy … but they didn’t say it had to be so effin hard either.

i know its not very en vogue to talk yoga philosophy these days, but if you're looking for some ease, take a line (or two) from  pantajali's yoga sutras and remember -  abhyasa with vairagya. 

in other words:  work hard - then let it go. 

abhyasa (practice/work) is something most of us get.  after all, we live in washington dc, home to the type A, obsessive compulsive over-achiever.  we work long, we work hard.  and for this, we expect results.

so understandable, it's that whole idea of vairagya (non-attachment), where most of us, present company included, get hung up. 

it’s the letting go part that gets our panties in a wad - for like money invested, we hold hopes for high returns.

hold up … before my daughter decides to drop out of college in favor of a snowboarding career … i agree, it’s good to have goals and aspirations.  but best to use as a compass rather than a fixed destination.   

haven’t you ever found yourself in an impossible relationship/job/yoga posture that no matter how much love/labor/grunt-work you poured in, you simply couldn’t “make it work?” 

that’s because we don’t “make” things work … we let them be what they are.  we can only act with good intention – then let go and trust the outcome.

there IS a happy ending.  but accept it may not be the one you wrote.

it’s called faith.  not MY will, but THY will.  the first must be sacrificed for the other to appear.

tough stuff, i know.  i’m a control freak, too.  i like the idea that i can do/be/have anything i set my mind to. and i don’t have a lot of patience.

so sometimes i have to stop and question, effort or force?  is the struggle my work - or am i battling life for some coveted prize?

keeping in mind the best things in my life have come to me not when i pushed – but only when i stopped. 

love without possession.

forgive without expectations.

give with no strings.

practice for no prize (asana).

leave the laws of force and resistance to high school physics. 

because when it is truly right, the work ain’t all that hard.