I’ve seen that on the other side of death lies peace. I’ve seen that when we relinquish our stories-when the truth of our soul kills the narrative we’re spinning out to impress ourselves and others-we reach acceptance and suffering ends. This is true even when the thing is our own body. I’ve seen that what we’re most afraid to lose is never a thing, person, or situation, but our story about how that thing will make us happy, conform to our ego’s desires, and remain forever unchanging. I’ve been through it several times lately, on a moderate scale. This sequence happens when we fail to get an expected email or our favorite sitcom gets cancelled, let alone when we lose a job, a love, or a lifestyle. But on the other hand, we’ve got a really nice big wooden horse. True, Troy is now being run by the damn Greeks. I WILL NOT PUT UP WITH THIS HAPPENING! EVERYTHING HAS TO GO BACK TO NORMAL, NOW, NOW, NOW!!!! If I try harder, if I do a better job and really make them happy, everything will go back to normal. We go through all the stages of grieving our own deaths, because part of us is dying: the ego’s attachment to the story of the thing that’s going to make us happy forever. There’s an awful period of resistance when this first happens. The friendly new coworker smilingly throws us under the bus in a meeting. The perfect lover quits antidepressants, cold turkey. The new baby who’s slept angelically for two weeks develops colic. We think they’re a gift that will make us happy, and for a while they do. So many of the things that transfix us, the things that make us fall madly in love, are Trojan horses. We must give birth to them, move in with them, invite them into the bathtub and the bed right along with us. In order to wake up, we must not only observe people who bring up the most unenlightened parts of our egos-not even merely encounter them. You know how the road to hell is paved with good intentions? Well, the road to heaven is paved with apparently horrible mistakes. In many cases, that’s our deepest suffering. And what do our souls want? Not the cabana on the beach, not the well-oiled, nubile partner, not our names in lights.īecause of this, we draw into our lives-inexorably, unintentionally, with maddening repetitiveness-exactly the things that lead most directly to awakening. The mind, despite its amazing abilities, is powerless to do miracles unless it’s in cahoots with the soul. Here’s the sobering truth: We don’t attract what our minds want. In fact, I direct a slightly bitter laugh at the whole concept of thinking ourselves to success. I believe in the Law of Attraction, but I don’t think it’s that simple.

People talk about “the Law of Attraction” as a way to hook Hollywood headlines, Washington power, and Wall Street wealth.

Martha clipt horses