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Richard Carlson Quote on Letting Go Of Expectations and A Short Story About Finding Inner Peace

“Whenever you expect something to be a certain way and it isn’t, you’re upset and you suffer. On the other hand, when you let go of expectations, when you accept life as it is, you’re free.”

Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Beyond the Quote (159/365)

A wealthy westerner, in search of peace of mind travels east to find a guru who might be able to help. After searching far and wide, through many towns and villages, he finally gets word of just the guru who can help. When they finally meet, the wise guru asks the wealthy westerner what is in the bag that he is holding so close to his heart. The wealthy man explains that it is a large sum of money that will be rewarded to whomever can help him find the inner peace that he so desperately hopes to find. The wise guru paused for a moment and reflected on the offer. Then, to everybody’s surprise, snatched the bag of money right from the man’s hands and ran away!

The wealthy westerner couldn’t believe what had happened. He was stunned. And after a moment of hesitation, snapped into grips with the situation and quickly chased after the guru. Being that the guru was in his own town, he knew all of the short cuts, side streets, and alleyways which made it nearly impossible for the wealthy westerner to catch him. After several moments of heated chasing, the guru finally led the wealthy westerner back to their original meeting place, stopped running, and stood there in waiting as the westerner finally caught up. “What are you doing?! Why have you stolen my money?!” The westerner yelled at the guru as he stumbled for his breath. “You want your bag of money back?” The Guru asked. “Of course I do! It’s mine! You stole it from me!” The westerner replied. The guru, again, just as surprisingly as before, handed the bag of money back to the wealthy westerner and watched as the man hugged and cradled the bag as if it was a child being returned to its parent.

“What do you feel?” The guru asked. “What do you mean, what do I feel?! I feel relieved that I have my money back and now I am going to leave this wretched town in peace!” The guru smiled. “Ah, yes. Have you not realized what you are feeling? You are leaving here with everything you came with and yet, you are now feeling quite different than when you arrived.” The guru continued, “When you came to me, you were so concerned with finding inner peace that you had forgotten that it has been available to you this whole time. You simply needed to be reminded of something that you already possessed. Inner peace is not found when you are seeking, it is found when you are not seeking. It is when you are no longer seeking that you can become aware of what already is and inner peace can finally catch up. Inner peace is simply trying to catch up, it has been chasing you this whole time. But, you are running so fast away from it. Stop running. Stop running your mind. Stop running through past situations and future scenarios. Stop placing expectations. Connect to what already is. Connect to this present moment and be thankful for all that you already have. You do not buy inner peace from a guru. You enter a state of awareness and gratitude and inner peace finds its way to you. For, as you are feeling right now, what you have is already enough. It always has been.”


Read Next: 13 Powerful Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes on Happiness, Anger, and Peace


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