Thought for the Week

Timothy D. Stein, MFT, CSAT

June 9, 2014

Moments of serenity, moments of chaos

An “old timer” in a 12-step meeting responded to the question “How have you been?” with this wise answer “Oh, moments of serenity, moments of chaos.”  What a wonderful description of life!  We experience serenity when the situations around us match our desires.  We experience chaos when they don’t.  Neither is good and neither is bad.  But both are necessary for growth in life and neither stays with us permanently.  We get stuck when we put too much energy into trying to hold onto serenity or chaos.

Am I open to the ebbs and flows of serenity and chaos?  Am I holding on too tightly to the experience of serenity or chaos?  What would change if I accepted the moments of chaos as a challenge for growth and the moments of serenity as a time for reflection and appreciation?