How do you untie the Gordian knots in your life?
Everyone enjoys and appreciates beauty, whether in nature, art, a flower, the smile of a child or in some pleasing visual element. You spend countless hours arranging and rearranging your living space to make it aesthetically pleasing to your eyes. You want your physical spaces to reflect our refined tastes and who we are. You hunt for unique pieces and take great trouble to set them up in these spaces. You are proud to show the world how well we maintain them. You update and change your living spaces to suit your needs and different life phases.
Do you pay as much attention to your inner aesthetics? Are you tying your sense of worth and identity to physical spaces and situations rather than strengthening your inner aesthetics? It is easy to do this because we have been conditioned to judge on a superficial level based on physical appearance. We have not been taught to dig deeper and find the source of true fulfillment within ourselves. So we spend a lifetime looking outward for fulfillment. When we get something, we feel temporarily satiated. Soon, we are looking for the next big thing. The collection grows as we continue searching, but fulfillment never happens.
“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Many think of life as a series of pre-planned phases as defined by others or society and try to shape their lives accordingly. The aim is to show others that you have made the dream happen, rather than walking the path in a way that that serves you well. Unsurprisingly, the dream becomes a nightmare. You chase the next big thing, believing it will fulfill you but how can it happen when you live life based on some unspoken societal expectation? You collect many things along the way but fulfillment recedes even as you acquire more material. You tie yourself up in knots trying to find fulfillment. The longer you let those knots remain in your life, the tighter they bind you.
“If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be truly fulfilled.” Lao Tzu
How do you untie yourself? Introspecting and being true to yourself may not be easy but they are your true friends in life. They help you unravel the knots you have tied yourself by the choices you have made. Once you know how to delve into yourself, the knots loosen and the journey becomes easier. Developing your inner aesthetic helps you define life the way you want it to happen. If you are determined to transform your life into a joyful expression of who you are, transformative changes happen inside. Soon, they are reflected in your external environment as well.
What do you need to do to make this happen? Act. You can study your issue and plan all you want to but unless you act, you will remain where you are. An ounce of action is better than oodles of meetings, endless planning, considering how to mitigate all risks (an impossible mission, by the way) or waiting for the ‘right’ moment. Action is the only way to progress to the next step. The more you act, the better the changes. But act you must. No amount of analyzing and talking will free you unless you take action.
“What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action.’ – Meister Eckhart
A popular story narrates how Alexander the Great untied the intricate Gordian knot. According to legend, the knot could be undone only by a future ruler of Asia. After examining the knot, Alexander simply slashed it with his sword. He reasoned that the goal was to untie the knot and not how it was undone. Since then, the Gordian knot is used as a metaphor to solve a challenging problem with decisive action.
If you are able and willing to take decisive action and slice off several pesky variables that are inhibiting the joy in your life with one blow, do so. Nothing is worth living a life that is essentially an expression of what others want you to be. Why should you allow anyone else to crowd out the joy of your life? Untying the Gordian knot in your life will enable you to live life the way you are supposed to – lightly and joyfully.
