Resisting What IS

I have been reading Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now again, for the third time. Each time, I am met with new learnings, new ways of thinking and new ways of being. It is a spiritual experience, to let the words sink in, and to understand them in a fundamental way. It is enriching in all the ways that a spiritual lesson is taught and understood.

This past weekend, my daughter, Navya, had a soccer tournament. When we arrived to her game, we were met with bright skies and sun beating down on the fields. There were throngs of folks watching their children play. If you have ever been to these youth sporting events, it’s almost like a pilgrimage, hundreds descending on a place, cars packed, coolers filled, waiting for their progeny to reach some type of nirvana. The first game was fine, my daughter’s team tied 3-3. Nirvana would have to wait until 4:30PM.

As we waited for her second game, the clouds started to roll in. My weather app had only predicted 20% rain at 5PM. Hmmm. I had only packed a small umbrella relying too much on my phone instead of experience. I begrudgingly brought my small umbrella to the field, hoping that my weather app was correct and the laws of probability would work in my favor. They did not.

I kid you not, fifteen minutes in, we were met with rain. No problem, we could handle a little sprinkle. But then the skies opened up and dumped a torrential downpour on our heads. My small umbrella was no contest to the rain. My pants were drenched in minutes. The rain was relentless, with no end in sight. It was cold and miserable as a spectator.

But my daughter carried on. Down 3-1, tens of minutes having passed since our last goal, my daughter emerged victorious with a goal. And a beautiful goal at that (from the top of the box to the top right corner of the goal.) Her signature goal kick. We eventually ended up tying again, 3-3. But given the circumstances, I’d say we won.

On our way back to the car, almost in a sprint, another mom had asked Navya how she continued to play in the heavy rain. Without much thought or skipping a beat, Navya replied that “once you accept the rain, it’s fine. I actually don’t mind it.” MIND BLOWN. Full circle moment to Tolle and his teachings.

I asked Navya about that mindset later. How did she arrive at that conclusion of acceptance? She replied, “It’s the truth, Mommy.” Again, mind blown. The biggest lesson I have been getting from re-reading Tolle’s book has been about this very notion of accepting the moment. Tolle writes, “whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.” Once you accept whatever IS, you are no longer resisting reality. You are no longer resisting what IS. It is the very act of resisting that creates pain and suffering. And for Navya, what that meant is that she could not focus on playing, sprinting, and scoring until she accepted the rain, however awful it was. Once she accepted the awful playing conditions, she could focus on the task at hand and perform her best without the noise and the struggle.

Now, what could be more true than that?