In every moment, each of us has a basic decision to make about our well-being. No matter how terrible, worrisome, or even frightening the circumstances are, the question we are called on to answer is whether we will face it with calmness, assurance, and knowing that we are okay, that all is well.
Certainly there is trouble in the world. In fact, it is largely what we focus on. We think about what is not right and how to fix it. We watch local, national, and world news about problems and conflict. We complain about what we do not like or do not have.
But seeing only problems and issues is looking at the little picture. Problems exist in a short-sighted view, when we see only what is before us. From this perspective, we see what is out of whack and we can be picky and complaining. “All is well” is about the big picture, about rising a thousand miles above the earth and looking back down at ourselves and our world. Seen from this level, we realize how small most of our problems and issues are. Nothing is so awful that we cannot rise above it.
Another way to look at it is that “all is well” is about how things will turn out. There may be trouble or strife today, but it will be over in time. It will work itself out. And knowing this in the moment lies in the phrase, “All is well.”
What attitude would you rather proceed with in life—“All is well” or “All is terrible”? You affect your experience by the choice you make.
None of this is to say that we should not act when we are confronted by what is not right. Of course, it makes sense to right a wrong. Action can be part of making all well. But approaching the problem from a centered place, from knowing “all is well” within, is the sentiment that can lend power and steadiness to action to correct what is wrong.
Indeed, what if all the problems and issues you see were to help you realize the good that exists and the “all is wellness” of it all? It takes darkness to know the light, to know there is good and all is well. Remembering that things ultimately resolve, you might even seek how the trouble can teach you or otherwise benefit you. Goodness can come out of the trouble that you have.
Life is going to go on with its program whether we are on board with it or not. So why not come along for the ride with an attitude that accommodates this? If things just are as they are, who are we to say that all is not well?
Some would say that the idea that all is well goes well beyond just the attitude we take, that knowing that all is well is the intention of God or the universe. But this leads us into the religious or metaphysical realm, beyond what is needed to take the attitude that all is well.
How about you? What is your decision about whether all is well?
This is Glenn Stevenson with Self Sense Counseling and Coaching. Until next time, I wish you the attitude if not the belief that all is well.