Frankly, what else did you expect?

How absurd is complaining about the rules of the game we are playing?

Instead of accepting how things are, we try to bend them to our will. In our struggle, we end up confused, frustrated, and exhausted. And still the sand will be all over us.

I suggest letting go of the fuss, laughing at the silliness of it all, and accepting things as they are.

A day at the beach

While I was at the beach, I caught myself dwelling on the enemy; it sticks to our skin, gets everywhere, and is none other than sand. Then the idea struck me; how illogical and mad I must seem.

I'm at the beach; there is salty water, an implacable sun, and sand. Frankly, what else did I expect to happen?

Did I expect the sand to move away from me as a magnet would repel another? The absurdity was hilarious.

It's not that I suddenly loved the sand. Yet, I found tranquility. I wasn't resisting its existence anymore. I remembered the reason I was there and decided that I may as well enjoy the moment despite the sand.

Beaches have sand

In the same way sand is inherent to a beach, every game we play has a definite set of rules.

We can't choose the cards we are dealt, but we can decide how to play them. Yet, we refuse our hand and struggle to exchange it fruitlessly. That is not how the game is played.

Similarly, we insist on touching fire without being burnt, loving someone without implications, and going to a beach that has no sand.

Whether by ignorance or negation, we resist how things are. We want one part without the other.

We know what a mad and fruitless pursuit that is.

The acceptance of sand

We may not eliminate the pain by accepting the rules and the nature of what we interact with, but we can obtain tranquility.

We can't avoid burning our hands, the heartbreak, the presence of every grain of sand on the beach, but we can prevent the conflict between how things are and how we believe they should be.

Acting wisely comes only when we understand and accept what is. We may refrain from putting our hand in the fire again, abstain from loving, decide to love as much as we can while we can, or make the most of being at the beach despite the sand.

No more fuss

This is how we stop encouraging the fuss. When conflict arises, we acquire the habit of asking ourselves What else did I expect to happen?. The silliness of the answer may be comical. We laugh, try to understand and accept what is, and adapt.

If we ever find ourselves trapped in a sand hole, we need to stop digging further. Understand your situation. That is how we find a way out.