Iain Thomas Quote on What To Do When The World Is Wearing You Down

“The world will always wear you down, so let it wear you down until only the good remains.  Hold on to the incredible parts of you that survive.”

Iain Thomas, Every Word You Cannot Say (Page 93)

Beyond the Quote (180/365)

The world will always be this way. Life will continue to be relentless and will certainly try to wear you down. So, let it. If you can’t control the world, why bother trying to control it? Don’t resist what happens. Don’t resist what is. Let life send its blessings your way and let life send its storms, too. If the world is going to wear you down, let it wear down the worst parts of you. Don’t let it break down what’s beautiful. Don’t let it harden you up. Don’t let it steal away your vulnerability. Hold on to the parts of you that make you proud to be you. Hold on to hope and love and beauty and joy and gratitude and individuality. And let the storms wear down and wash away what’s faulty, unnecessary, and not you.

Be like grass. Regardless of how intense and torrential a storm might be, grass stays firmly rooting in the ground and gets but a shower from the chaos. Grass doesn’t resist the outcries and fury of the storm—it simply moves freely with it. It dances with the storm. It feels rejuvenated from the cleansing experience and perks back up quickly towards the sun once the storm has passed.

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Try to be a tree, however, and resist all of that miraculous power with your big, strong, solid trunk and your deep, rigid roots, and your hard, mighty branches—and you will break. The tree, even the mightiest of trees, can’t contend with the powers of even a mediocre storm. It tries to resist against what is. And what results varies from broken branches, to damaged trucks, to ripped up roots and a loss of the tree altogether. I’m sure you’ve seen it.

And so when the winds of change come screaming in at you—bend with them and learn how to move with the powers that be. When the torrential rains of sadness and sorrow come pouring down over your head—sit with them and let them wash through your body. When the storms of life try to wear you down, let it take your resistance, hostility, anger, impatience, and selfishness with it. Let it leave you cleansed, unburdened, light, free, and ready to deal with the challenges of your life—not the opposite.

Because after the storm passes (and it will pass), what’s going to help you move forward more? Feelings of hostility, anger, impatience, and contempt? Or feelings of hope, love, joy, and a perspective of beauty and gratitude? Cursing and resisting the storm doesn’t stop the storm. Relaxing into the storm allows you to move forward more appropriately and timely. One does nothing except put you in a terrible state to act. The other puts you in a state of awareness and balance and leaves you ready to perk up once the opportunity is there. Sometimes life isn’t about puffing your chest up really big and challenging what is—sometimes it’s about breathing calmly, sitting down on your cushion, and moving with the energy of what’s being thrown instead. Be like grass.

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