ALL Things Happen to ALL People
It can feel lonely out there. Surrounded by 8 billion humans (of course not all at the same time) and still feel alone. Everyone else's life is put together. They've figured it out, whatever “it” is, and you're the only loser who's messed up or in pain or in shame or whatever depleting thought loop or emotion or crappy life experience you're stuck in.
The truth is no one has it figured out. No one. Even if they pretend they do, they're just pretending.
Know this – when feeling down and out, lost and scared, doubt-filled or uncertain, enveloped by grief: ALL things happen to ALL people.
Let's start at the top. ALL people are born. The conditions of conception vary from traditional girl meets boy to syringe meets petri dish meets girl. Sometimes violent, sometimes loving, sometimes in between. The conditions of birth vary too, from the vaginal exit to the cut exit. One way or another we all enter the planet in one of these messy ways, albeit some more colorful and dramatic than others. Walk along a crowded beach and you will find evidence of the “all-people-are-born” truth as you gaze at the wide variety of navels tanning themselves. I have one too, just like me they all have one.
The next ALL things happen to ALL people is death. Yep! As immortal as you may believe yourself to be or as many lifts, tucks, injections, supplements and magic potions you use to delay the inevitable, you will die no matter what. Some die before they even fully enter the human realm, others live decades before transitioning. Like conception and birth not all deaths are alike. Some are peaceful, some are violent, some long, slow and arduous, some quick and unexpected. Bottomline, “all-people-die” is a truth. It's of value to own this truth. In owning our death, we become more open to living our life. Walk through a cemetery and you will see evidence of the truth of this too. I am just like them, I will be here too someday.
ALL people will also experience sickness, pain, hurt, injury, financial stress, disappointments, betrayals, mistakes – big and small, judgment, doubt, fear, worry, angst, grief, joy, happiness, peace, contentment…the full spectrum of human emotions. ALL will experience thoughts that are dark and those that are loving. ALL will experience the generosity of the earth, the generosity of others, the beauty of relationships, the drama and trauma of relationships, moments of profound insights, moments of profound confusion, moments of praise, and moments of blame.
The list is endless and points to ALL people experience ALL things. No one is immune. You are not alone. You are connected in the beautiful, sometimes tragic, web of life and humanity. You are just like me and I, just like you.
Perhaps you've heard the expressions: Good things happen to good people. Bad things happen to bad people. That’s Karma at work. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people. Not fair, neither group deserves what they got. Remember, ALL things happen to ALL people. There's no getting around it. It’s not, not fair – it’s life.
Each thing we experience in life is part of the human condition. And some parts of the human experience suck and hurt. And they will happen to ALL people someday in someway.
Perhaps a reframe might be of benefit. In the words of Thich Nhat Hanh – “enjoy this one most precious birth” in whatever form it shows up for you. Like all things, this too shall pass.
In-joy all things,
Debbie