When you let life take its course, you are not controlling it. You may think you have already let go of control, but you are yet staunch in adhering to what you think should be rather than adhering to what is. You still resist much that is for your enrichment. Yes, you turn away gifts. You put off your acceptance of them because of some predilection you have, from some thought you have that you honor over what is presented to you.

You make decisions about matters that are not for you to decide. You swim stiffly. You decide certain parameters of your life are acceptable, and that others are not. You are not in a condition to make such decisions. You stem life when you do.

You think lights have to be on or off at certain times. You object to certain sounds and favor others. But you need not hold yourself slave to your preferences. Prefer to be open to the universe and the gifts it would give to you. Close down nothing. All roads are open to you. All of life is open to you. What are you afraid of? That life will overtake you?

When you take a walk in the woods, you do not control what you will see. You do not control what will be growing. You do not control which flowers are blooming, and which have seeded. You do not control the ripeness of the fruit. You do not control the colors nor the scents nor the paths that others have taken or will take.

When you take a walk in the woods, it is wonderful precisely because you let go of control. You accept the woods for what it is. This is a form of unselfishness. You made a contract, so to speak, to walk through the woods as it is. You made a contract to enjoy your walk through the woods. You made a contract to delight in what the woods hold for you. You leap over rocks or sit on them. You leap over streams or you wade in them or even lie down in them.

You watch the sun through the trees. You do not object that the light comes from the direction it comes in. You do not object that the rays fall upon you or do not. You embrace what the woods has to offer you at the moment it offers. You do not waste your time deciding whether you will like the foliage. You accept it so naturally. This is a form of love, so easy it is.

But with daily life, so often you stamp your foot at it. You balk at incidents in your life. If incidents were trees in a forest, it is as if you come up to them and say, "Move! Get out of my way!" But in a forest, you would not be distressed because a tree grew there. You would not consider it an impediment.

Well, then, consider that there are no impediments in life. Only trees to walk around.

Each tree in the forest is telling you something. We can even go so far as to say that each tree in the forest is you, and you are telling yourself something. So when you meet yourself today in all your various forms, what are you going to tell yourself? Consider welcoming all the trees in the forest and allowing them to welcome you. This is how you welcome yourself. What obstacle can possibly be before you but what you name obstacle?

All the trees in the forest give you shade. Or they make you slow down. Or they mark your path. They give you sustenance. They do not go out of their way to present themselves to you. You present yourself to them! They were already there, and you have just come to them. The same way, your life is something you are coming to. Welcome all the trees. They belong here as well as you.

Welcome all of life for you are on a walk through it.