Guest Columnist
Quick. What public figure repeatedly uses the catchphrase, “We’ll see?” If you guessed President Trump, you are correct. When someone says, “Let it Be,” what immediately comes to mind for many folks? If you thought of the Beatle’s 1970 legendary song, you are spot on again.
Now, I am not foolish enough to pen a narrative about politics in general or the President in particular, and I am certainly not going to write about the Beatles…well…not really. What I would like to emphasize is the power in “detachment,” which I define as freeing one from overreaction. Please stay with me…I promise to connect the dots. Regrettably, I am often fixated on someone doing something the way I want or I try to control an outcome (attachment) instead of doing what Paul McCartney wrote in his legendary Beatles song, “Let it Be.”
I suggest the legendary tune exemplifies the notion of detachment. Paul says that when he finds himself in times of trouble, “Mother Mary” comes to him. Although some folks believe Mary means Mary, mother of Jesus, Paul’s mother, who died when he was a young boy, was also named Mary. The truth of the matter is that Paul wrote the song about his mother where he describes her arriving, as if an angel, whispering to him “let it be,” in times of trouble. Stated perhaps more clearly, let go, relax, do not worry about your troubles, detach from them and just let it be.
Paul’s words of wisdom underscore what the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism teaches about how to handle the inevitable highs and lows of life. Akin to “let it be,” in times of trouble, the Taoist proclaim that we should, like water, flow with life with the understanding that in time things will change from bad to good and vice versa, because that is the nature of all things. Therefore, patience my friends, is a virtue. If we attach ourselves to the outcome of our situations we will likely become depressed during troubled times and crazy happy in good times, which is parallel to taking a continuous and incredibly nauseating emotional roller coaster ride. Let’s be better than this. In fact, as it relates to the unpredictability of life, why not be like the farmer in the Chinese parable below who embodies the concept of detachment, letting it be, and flowing like water?
There was a farmer whose horse ran away. That evening the neighbors gathered to commiserate with him since this was such bad luck.
He said, “We’ll see.”
The next day the horse returned, but brought with it six wild horses, and the neighbors came exclaiming at his good fortune.
He said, “We’ll see.”
Then, the following day, when his son tried to saddle and ride one of the wild horses, he was thrown and broke his leg. Again, the neighbors came to offer their sympathy for the misfortune.
He said, “We’ll see.”
The day after, recruitment officers came to the village to seize young men for the army, but because of the broken leg, the farmer’s son was rejected. When the neighbors came in to say how fortunately everything had turned out, he said, “We’ll see.”
Source: “Tao: The Watercourse Way” by Alan Watts
Harry Pappas Jr. CFP ― Managing director-investments; Master of Science Degree Personal Financial Planning; Certified Estate & Trust Specialist; Certified Divorce Financial Analyst
Pappas Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, 818 North Highway A1A, Ste 200, Ponte Vedra, FL 32082; 904-273-7955; harry.pappas@wellsfargoadvisors.com.
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