Cat paw holding down a rat’s tail
No one likes to feel powerless, yet everyone is powerless over something. The natural laws that govern this physical world are an example. Can you stop yourself from aging? Suppose you get tossed out of an airplane – can you suspend gravity? Of course, there are ways we try to get around those laws, such as cosmetics or parachutes. But our ideas and innovations are never 100% reliable; at some point they fail. And although they do, we still keep trying to use those same ‘faulty parachutes’ (also known as harmful habits). Why? Because for a period of time our unhealthy habit brought us pleasure, distraction or relaxation, and we don’t want to give that up. However, the reality is that what used to be a help has now become a hindrance, creating considerable problems and insignificant benefits. We’re left feeling stressed and anxious instead of content and peaceful. Yet being powerless doesn’t mean we are hopeless and without options. It’s just that all the options we’ve been able to come up with are no longer useful.
To become honest is in effect to become fully and robustly incarnated into powerlessness.
~ David Whyte
For more information on powerlessness, see this post.
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