As I write this experiment, I’m sitting on an airplane, flying across country.  Sitting across the aisle from me is a young woman whose dog is onboard with her.  It’s a particularly cute dog, which became evident when the woman took him out of the carrier to give him some lap time.  At one point, when the young woman went to the rest room, the dog was in his carrier and scratching furiously to be let out.  Wiggling, whimpering, and rolling around, he had to wait for his human companion to return from the rest room before there would be any relief.

As I listened to him whimper, and watched him scramble around in his carrier, I thought about how he had no way of knowing how much better off he was than if he had been flying in the cargo section of the plane.  That got me to thinking about how often we take the current situation at face value, struggle and fight with it, bemoan our situations only to discover – sooner or later – that the very circumstance we thought was so terrible actually supported us in a way we weren’t able to imagine.

I also began to think about how many times I have fought to have things work out one way and then, on reflection, discovered that what I thought was an obstacle was actually an opening.  And so, one of the invitations in this week’s experiment is for you to take a moment, from time to time, to think about those times you carried on about something only to discover that whatever blocked you from having what you thought you wanted actually opened up the possibility for things to work out better.

What I thought as I watched the dog in the carrier is how important it is to remind ourselves of how often things work out, even if we can’t imagine how that will happen when we’re in the middle of it.  If we could remember and remind ourselves, we could save a lot of wear and tear, and we might even learn that there’s a bigger picture operating than we can see at any given moment.  For example, the dog had no idea that his human companion had saved him from the discomfort of the cargo hold and that he was in the process of benefitting from someone’s planning and care. 

For this week’s experiment, in addition to remembering times when things actually worked out, I invite you to notice those moments when you run into obstacles, or you struggle with what is and you forget that you might be in the middle of something that will actually turn out better than you expect..  When you are in the middle of these times, notice what happens if you remind yourself that things have a way of working out and that sometimes an obstacle actually opens the way to a better alternative.  As you remind yourself of this, notice what happens in your body, as well as any shifts you notice in your state of mind and emotions. 

And, even if it turns out that the obstacle really was an obstacle, notice what happens when you make the choice to be aware of your responses and then use that obstacle as a way to increase your capacity to release struggle.  Each time we come up against struggle, and have an opportunity to let go and move through whatever is happening in our lives, we become more resilient and increase our capacity to recenter and restabilize ourselves when life throws us a curve ball.

As with all the experiments, please put judgment aside and bring along curiosity as your best friend.   Remember, curiosity opens us to life and our experiences and judgment constricts us and robs us of the adventure of living consciously.