Equanimity

We’ve had a long, cold winter in Britain this year. I’m growing tired of snow, and find myself feeling impatient for the spring to start. I try to stop myself seeing it that way because, in this context, negatives attract more negatives. The more we dislike winter and long for spring and summer, the more likely we are to regret the onset of autumn and dread the impending winter. Nature is cyclical, and we do well to accept the fact graciously. Winter is a resting and cleansing time, and should be valued as such.

The same holds true for that well meaning practice of appreciating the things we have, because we know there are less fortunate people who have less. It sounds good viewed in isolation, but it means we are judging our lives by comparing them with others. Thus, it produces the inevitable corollary: if we value what we have by the process of comparison, we are also likely to regret what we don’t have by the same principle. In other words, we are more likely to envy those who have more.

Surely, the only way to achieve inner peace is to strive for equanimity, accepting the road that unfolds before us and valuing whatever benefits it confers. This does not mean we shouldn’t strive to achieve things, as long as we are comfortable with the fact that we might not succeed. Failure is an attitude of mind that need not be allowed to impress its negative illusion into a false notion of reality. Ultimately, there is no failure; there is only the road.