All Is Well (In The Now)

The past sages often repeated the phrase "All is Well." But how can this be true? Indeed the world seems a mess, or at least my life is a mess. But are there perhaps profound truths we can learn from and embrace that all is well? What can I do to see the world through the "all is well" lens?

Transcript

Welcome to the Happiness Podcast.

I'm Dr.

Robert Puff.

All is well.

When you hear me speak these words,

What do you feel?

Do you feel anger?

Do you feel upset?

Do you feel at peace?

Or do you feel confused?

Because how could all be well with everything that's happening in the world right now?

Or perhaps in your personal life,

Right now you've been diagnosed with cancer.

Or you're going through a horrible breakup.

Or you and your family is having a difficult time because of the increased cost of things these days.

So when you hear,

All is well,

You wonder,

You ponder,

Is it?

It doesn't seem well in my life.

So how could all be well?

May I ask a favor of you?

I'm going to discuss two aspects of all being well,

The benefits of all being well.

And if you don't mind,

Wait to hold off on your opinion,

Your disagreement with me,

Until the end of the talk.

And if you still disagree,

That's fine,

Of course.

But at least be open to hear what I have to say and perhaps see that there might be some wisdom in that all is well.

If we study the ancient wisdom of the past,

That is one of the main themes we're going to learn.

That in the past,

Throughout history,

The great sages have said,

All is well.

It's a very common theme among the wisest of the humans that have lived in the past.

So why would they say that?

What are the benefits of seeing life as being well?

The first and perhaps more obvious benefit of saying and seeing that all is well is how it affects our mind.

As we go through life,

We have plans,

We have expectations,

We want things to go a certain way,

And then they don't.

And initially,

We do get quite upset when things go differently than the way we were expecting them to go.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

It's healthy to feel our feelings.

But what can happen is we can stay stuck there.

I mean,

Don't we all know people who go through a divorce,

Which is hard,

And yet some stay stuck there.

It was a horrible experience for them.

They didn't want it to happen.

And they've spent many years,

Sometimes decades,

Just brooding over,

I went through a divorce and my life is horrible.

And yet others we know,

And I've met many,

Who say,

Guess what?

Now I have time to find someone that I can be happy with because I wasn't happy in my marriage.

And I also get free time to do what I want.

Because before,

We were a unit and I never had any free time for myself.

And now I get every other week off.

A lot of free time for myself.

Because when we hear in our head that all is well,

Then we look for the wellness in our lives.

For example,

I live in Southern California.

And historically,

People drive everywhere they go.

But because gas prices have gotten quite expensive,

People are learning to ride bikes a lot more here.

And there's several benefits from that.

They're getting exercise now,

They're getting outdoors,

They're not polluting the air as much,

And they're saving money because they have their bikes they can ride.

And I see a lot of electric bikes which make it even easier to get around.

When we have the belief or the system in place,

Hearing in our head,

All is well,

It prompts in us our internal energies to look towards what is well.

Because there's always something well going on.

And what we focus on affects our reality.

One beautiful story I recently learned this year was of a woman when she was younger.

She was a teenager.

Her father had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

So what they did is,

He just wanted to suck the marrow out of life.

So every day he went to the Met with her and saw the most beautiful art in the world.

So that he could enjoy the last days that he had on planet Earth.

And really did spend time with the beauty of our world.

And it truly affected her that now she's a deep lover of art herself.

And teaches people about art around the world.

Think if instead he had said,

I'm dying,

This isn't fair,

I have young children still.

And had given up on life and been bitter and angry.

And perhaps turned to booze to numb himself from the pain.

What a different legacy he would have left for his daughter.

And at the same time,

What a different experience he would have had for the last few months of his life.

When we look through the lens of all is well,

Then we look for the things that are well.

Because there is always something that we can be with that is well.

And if we focus our energy on that,

Instead of the things that aren't going well,

What we'll find is a levity,

A lightness in our heart.

And it will put smiles on our face because we'll see the beauty that is always there.

There's always something beautiful to be with.

And when we hear the phrase,

All is well,

Even when it seems like our lives are falling apart,

We will see the beauty in life.

Because there is always something beautiful to be with.

And all is well is a good way to remind us to look for it,

To find it,

And to steep ourselves in that.

Now the next wisdom of all is well is going to be harder.

It's going to be more challenging,

Perhaps,

To let in and to accept.

But I do want us to be open to the wisdom of all is well.

Because when we determine that life isn't well,

That all isn't well,

It isn't because of what's happening.

It's because of our belief system.

It's our belief system that is telling us that all isn't well.

Not the circumstances,

But our beliefs.

We have expectations that things are supposed to go a certain way,

And when they don't,

Then all isn't well.

But those beliefs are just that.

Beliefs based on our history,

Based on what we've been taught,

Based on what we've developed over the years.

But they are just that.

Beliefs.

If we had a different belief system,

We would then interpret our world and see our world very differently.

For example,

There are people in Southern California that believe if they don't have a car,

If they don't have a nice car,

They're kind of a loser because they're just not keeping up with the people around them and there's something wrong with them.

Or when they see a person with a junky car,

An older car,

Or someone even riding a bike,

They're thinking,

What a loser.

That's their belief system.

And if something happens in their life,

And they have to start riding a bike to get back and forth to work,

They're going to look at themselves in the mirror and say,

Wow,

There's something wrong with you and all is definitely not well.

Well,

At the time of this recording,

I'm headed to the Netherlands for a two-week vacation,

Which I'm really looking forward to.

And did you know in the Netherlands that most people,

Whether they be bankers,

Whether they be teachers,

Whether they be executives,

Ride their bike back and forth to get to work?

That's how they get around.

And they definitely aren't looked down on by anyone.

They're not critiqued.

And when they look in the mirror and they say,

I ride my bike back and forth to work,

They're proud.

They're proud that they do that.

And yet here in California,

Most people will look in their mirror and say,

What a loser.

So what causes us to believe that all isn't well is our belief system.

So when we start getting off and we say,

Wow,

Things just aren't going well,

We need to look at,

Well,

What is our belief system?

What do we believe that says all isn't well?

Because all isn't well isn't because of what's going on.

All isn't well because of our belief system.

And when we can challenge that belief system and say,

Is there another way for me to look at this?

Then we're going to find our levity in our hearts and a peace transcending that seems to come from nowhere because it is our natural state.

When we don't have all these crazy belief systems that say things have to go this way or that way,

And when we embrace life,

Then there's so much more peace and tranquility that we feel.

I mean,

Think about aging.

Again,

Here in the United States,

I think there's a lot of pressure to stay young,

To stay beautiful.

And yet around the world,

Often aging is seen as wisdom,

As where we go to find insights and look up to those who age.

Yet here in Southern California,

I think often people look down on people that are older and critique them because they're not as healthy as they are.

It's all how we see things.

When we see things differently,

Then we'll find that all is well.

Because when we let go of all these different belief systems,

Whether they be good or positive,

And we learn to live in the present moment without them,

You know what happens?

All is well.

Because if we don't expect anything,

Whatever happens is great.

We just accept it and we go with it.

Oh,

We lost our job?

Wow,

I get a two-week vacation,

Maybe even a few months until I find a new one.

Oh,

I retired two years ago and I'm realizing that I don't have enough money to get by,

So I'm going to find myself a part-time job.

And guess what?

I'll meet new people and it will be a lot of fun.

Oh,

My partner broke up with me?

And of course I'm sad,

But I'm going to now be able to meet new people,

Have time alone by myself,

And perhaps I'll meet someone that's even a better fit for me in the future.

Let me give very good evidence of how powerful our belief systems are and how they affect us negatively or positively.

For example,

Around the world,

Not just here in the United States,

But around the world,

I do think men expect to die before their partners if they're married,

And women expect to outlive their husbands if they're married.

And so when the husband loses his wife first,

Typically it's very hard for him and he struggles,

He may get remarried again,

Or he may become bitter,

But he does typically struggle because,

In quotes,

He didn't expect that.

That was his belief system.

Now women usually are realizing that they're going to spend the last few years of their life without their husbands,

And because of that,

And that belief system,

They expect to be alone,

And so they often are really good at developing great friends that they do things with and make time for,

Because if their partner,

Their husband,

Does pass,

They have these friends that they can rely on and spend time with and really have a blast in life with,

And it's all based upon a belief system.

Not that one obviously has to be happy and one has to be sad.

Of course not.

It's just because they believe certain things,

And those beliefs affect them both positively and negatively.

But what I want us to be open to is that we have to realize the power of our beliefs,

And when we believe that all is well,

It is going to help us.

But ultimately,

Just realizing how powerful our belief systems are and work towards letting them go.

And when we let them go,

And we don't have expectations or beliefs that things have to be a certain way,

Then you know what happens?

All is well.

Because then we just flow with life.

We flow with life in the now,

And we adjust to the changes in the now.

Letting go of our belief systems,

Living in the present moment,

In the now,

Then all is well.

That's what we'll discover.

I know it may be hard to hear some of this.

I know you may be saying,

But Dr.

Puff,

You don't realize what I'm going through.

And I know we're going through sometimes very awful things.

But at the same time,

Perhaps,

Just perhaps,

Hearing,

Repeating in our head that all is well,

Will help us to look for the beauty in the present moment,

And let go of our belief system that is causing us to suffer.

Life doesn't go the way we expect it to often,

But when it doesn't,

We don't necessarily have to suffer.

We can instead say,

All is well,

And look for the beauty in the present moment.

And that's what we do.

Throughout the day,

Throughout our lives,

We just repeat the phrase,

All is well,

Over and over again.

Particularly when we're having a hard time,

Just repeat,

All is well.

All is well.

And what we'll find is,

Our hearts will begin to soften,

Our worries will begin to dissipate,

And we'll see that,

Truly,

All is well.

Thank you for joining me on the Happiness Podcast.

Until next time,

Accept What Is,

Love What Is.

Reviews

This was helpful in dealing with anxiety today.

Great talk. Give me something to think about.

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