We are not happy with our situation in life so we change it. We are not happy with our work so we quit and look for another job. We are not happy with our spouses so we divorce them and look for new ones. We are not happy with our children so we try to distance ourselves as much as possible from them. When we are confused with situations we do not like, we immediately change them. But in the process, does that make us happy? No, it only makes us happy at first, but later on, the same symptoms reappear, and we are back to square one. Then we wallow again in stress and unhappiness.
Why? Because changing the situation is never the solution. Remember, we can not change another person. That person will change because he likes to change, and not because we caused him to change. We can not always change the stressful situations in our lives either.
We have not noticed that life is never constant. It is always a case of ebb and flow. One day you are up there in the clouds in happiness, and the next day, you are down there in the dumps with a desperate situation that threatens to tear you apart. Why? Because life is like that. The only person who is truly happy and joyful in life, irregardless of his external situations, is the person who has learned to make a personal change within himself. He accepts whatever fate hands down to him. He can live in extreme equanimity through the good days as well as through the bad days. He does not attempt to change people, he adjust to them. He does not attempt to change situations, he rides them through. He is like the bamboo tree that bends down when a strong storm is passing. Then he regains his full stature as soon as the storm is gone. The sturdiest trees are those that survived the fiercest storms in life.
But before we can become like this, we must have a very strong anchor in life. One who will never ever change or leave us in times of troubles or trials. That strong anchor is God. If we trust Him as an all merciful Father who will provide us with all our needs in life, then we can walk securely through life with nary a fear or doubt. We know that our temporary trouble will not last long and we will surely see the light of day at the end of a long tunnel.