#466 – How does "I don't care" bring you closer to enlightenment?

Saying I don’t care is vilified: we’re supposed to care––about our health, about others, about outcomes.

But what I’m suggesting here is a different kind of I don’t care. It’s about throwing your hands up and acknowledging that you don’t have the power to change most things in life. You can’t influence outcomes. Whatever will be, will be.

Once you get this at your core, you’re free from the illusion of control. Then you’re free for real. The moment you stop trying to control, you stop suffering for not getting what you want––or for getting what you didn’t want.

And yet, even knowing this truth, I find resistance inside. A year ago, my family and I got what we least wanted: my son thrown in jail. Now I pray every day to release my lingering sense of injustice.

My son, under house arrest now, could go back to jail for things neither of us can control. He feels unable to process the pain of his 19th year of life spent behind bars. It seems like all the odds are stacked against him: no job prospects, no apartment, no driver’s license––at least not in this state.

Of course, my Everybody’s Business Manager (aka Ego) thinks it knows what my son needs to do to get his s**t together. What my husband has to do. What the justice system should do.

Well, guess what, Ego––you’re not in charge. So keep your mouth shut so the rest of us can relax.

That’s what I don’t care looks like for me today. It’s not that I don’t care what happens to my child. It’s that I know I can’t fix this, so I choose to open my hand and let it go.

Where in your life would I don’t care set you free from the Ego’s grip?

Love,

Carolina