Life's Illusions

Oogway: My friend, the panda will never fulfill his destiny, nor you yours until you let go of the illusion of control.

Shifu: Illusion?


Oogway: Yes.

[points at peach tree]

Oogway: Look at this tree, Shifu, I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time.


Shifu: But there are things we *can* control: I can control when the fruit will fall, I can control where to plant the seed: that is no illusion, Master!


Oogway: Ah, yes. But no matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.


Shifu: But a peach cannot defeat Tai Lung!


Oogway: Maybe it can, if you are willing to guide, to nurture it, to believe in it.


Shifu: But how? How? I need your help, master.


Oogway: No, you just need to believe. Promise me, Shifu, promise me you will believe.
Kung Fu Panda Disney Movie

Picture found from a google search

I don't like to go on rides that I can't control.

I am often a bad passenger on a car trip. I would feel more in control if I were the driver. I don't grab the wheel, but I often have to sit on my hands to stop myself from jumping and latching onto something...it distracts the driver and is not a good thing.

So it  comes as no great surprise to me that I have tried harder than I thought, to control things in and around my life, and the lives of those I love.

I can't. It is an *illusion*.



What I can learn to control is to trust the one who is in control, who sees the bigger picture, and believe.
It is not an easy thing to do. But it is a freeing thing to do.
It frees me up to do what I can do.

I think I have finally stopped running around the room and taken my seat in Master Trusting Kindergarten.

I notice now, when I am trying to wrestle for the illusion of control, and then I'm learning to let go and step back. 

I can choose where to plant the seed, I can choose to take care of it as best I can, then I have to let go and believe that it will grow.
Then wait to see the beauty of life and the wonder of the Cherry tree's blossom...

"As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit." ~ Emmanuel Teney

"We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us." ~ E. M. Forester


"The road of life can only reveal itself as it is travelled; each turn in the road reveals a surprise. Man's future is hidden." ~ Unknown