Pretty sure that the Taoist Lao Tzu said, “Those who know, do not say. Those who say, do not know.” So clearly he did not know or would not say.
There is much about this LIFE that baffles me—so many mysteries, so much unknown.
I can acknowledge that there is much that we THINK that we Do know, and there is much that we are delusional about what we ACTUALLY DO know; just as there is much that we may never know about ‘how the sausage (of LIFE) is made’ because sometimes it’s better NOT to know those things than to know them and be helpless to do anything with that less-than-desirous knowledge.
Confusing? Yes. Well, that’s LIFE.
If I let it, much of what I see and hear in our current world can fill me with anxiety, so to stop myself from feeling that nasty energy I ask instead ‘WHY am I feeling this unsettling emotion?’ Clearly there is so much fear and fury in the collective airwaves at present that it’s hard to simply shut yourself away from it even if you do turn off the TV, because the COLLECTIVE ENERGIES are rife with this whirling, furious agitation. Some of it is intentionally instigated by unhappy folks who want others to feel what they are feeling, and some of it is the natural uncertainty born out of our unpleasant world pandemic situation.
But what can I personally do about it?
I take a deep breath and calm myself to clear my thoughts, and then say to the orange tabby sleeping at my feet on the recliner, “How can you sleep? Aren’t you also feeling this awful collective energy?” To which he yawns and stretches into a new curlicue position with one paw resting atop my ankle—or in effect doing a mildly reassuring cat zen-thing: “Don’t worry, my human—be happy.”
Hmmm. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I’m over-thinking it.
As long as his dish is full and his litter is clean while he sleeps serenely in this nice warm house, he’s a happy guy. Simple needs—simple wants. Eat, sleep, poop. He has no problems—no worries—no stress.
So WHY am I (or the rest of us) feeling stressed?
I could give a number of reasons as I’m sure you could also, but basically it comes down to whether or not I or WE choose to live that way—choose to accept that unsettling anxiety energy as a part of our own energy fields; and I simply don’t.
So each time that I feel the ‘anxiety energies’ around me, I stop what I’m doing and take a purposefully deep breath, then refocus my mind to where I want to put my energies—NOT to where someone else wants me to put my energies. It might take a few attempts to actually calm my inner state, but I can do it, as can you if you work at it.
Just remember: “Those who say…” want you focused on their own personal agendas, while “Those who know…” only want you to be happy and live in personal serenity.
Much like my wise zen-cat.