C'est La Vie

C'est La Vie. Stuff happens. What happened to setting SMART goals? Nothing wrong with goal setting, yet when your world gets ripped apart by a mystery illness (for example) that has made us self-isolate and quarantine since the new decade (2020) has beckoned on our domain...then what can we do? Go with the flow. That is all we can do. The key is to control what we can control, knowing that we can never control everything. For starters, this is just humanly impossible. We are not here to change the world, but rather to live in it, enjoy it, and to achieve as much as we can. Life sucks sometimes. Life is disappointing sometimes too. Life can also be absolutely awesome.

C'est La Vie is a French expression, simply meaning that "it is what it is," or "that is the way it is." It is like surrendering to what is. Make no mistake, surrendering to what is does not mean that you are giving up on your dreams, and/or on the desired outcomes you want in life. Things just do not go to plan. That is how it goes. In other words, C'est La Vie is a form of acceptance or resignation to what is going on, and it is usually to the downright awful and negative, to something that is unexpected; usually a loss of some form, not fully appreciating in the space of the moment that this loss could one day convert to an even greater gain. In other terms, not fully realising that things (even the s**t shows) happen for a reason.

Oh well. C'est La Vie. We can complain about the crap that is going on in our lives (and heaven forbid, all of us have a problem or two right now), and to the point that we may peeve some of the people close to us right off, when we are at our most vulnerable, and when we need these people to support us more than ever. Just accept it, and oh well. That is life. Life happens. Move on. Tomorrow is a brand new day. Yes, problems, setbacks, and disappointments suck. It is not what happens to you, but rather how you respond or react to what happens.

Yes, problems can be solved, yet sometimes we need to be discerning, and to use a good ounce of common sense, in order to solve them. At other times, we just need to step aside (C'est La Vie) and let the problem solve itself. There are times for waiting. There are times for taking action. There are times for other people who are better suited than you are, to help you in solving a particular problem.

Are you in lockdown right now? C'est La Vie. Whatever freedoms you are enjoying as a result, then go ahead and enjoy them. If you are grieving about the new normal in your life post lockdown....yes, C'est La Vie. Travelling will be different. Eating out will be different, and ironically enough, the French know that eating a croissant, and drinking a cappuccino is now different than what it was six months ago. Friends not responding to your own messages, stuck in their own bubble and cocoon? That's right. C'est la Vie, whether wanted or unwanted.

Are you going to have an operation very soon? Do you have an unexpected illness? Do you need to stay at home? Did you lose a loved one recently? C'est La Vie. This is not harsh, yet the time will come when you will have to accept these unexpected twists and turns in life, and for sure, it is normal to grieve. Grieving implies acceptance of the grief, and the setback occurring in time.

In time, things happen to help you appreciate your life some more, and perhaps to be clearer on your values and priorities. That's just how it goes...C'est La Vie. Such is life. Life can be very unfair, and depending on our soul contracts, we are here to learn certain life lessons. That alone is C'est La Vie. If it is raining today, and you want the weather to be sunny? C'est La Vie. Flight got cancelled? C'est La Vie. Lost your job? C'est La Vie. Hours reduced at work? C'est La Vie. Passed over for a promotion that you were a frontrunner for? C'est La Vie. Some other major and/or minor setback happened...you fill in the blank. Guess what? C'est La Vie. Lost weight? Put on weight? C'est La Vie.

C'est La Vie is like a form of downplaying your disappointment to other people for sure - as well as to yourself; yet the disappointment is being acknowledged, and it is still real; and it is a big deal. If you cannot catch up with someone else, because you have already made plans to be with someone else? C'est La Vie.

C'est La Vie may come across as negative, yet in actual fact, you are acknowledging what is, without any judgements. C'est La Vie. If you are lonely? C'est La Vie. If you are heartbroken? C'est La Vie. If you are cash tight right now? C'est La Vie. No different to how Eckhart Tolle thinks in his booked called Power of Now. By thinking C'est La Vie, you are not giving your power away; but rather through that acknowledgement of the crap that is going on, and/or for something that is not quite perfect; you are neutralising its effect. There is no right or wrong, but rather what it is. C'est La Vie is what is. Sheer acceptance. No ego.

On this, I will leave you with a (in my humble opinion, a soothing) song by Phosphorescent by the same title. You guessed it: C'est La Vie. This band is real and raw. Their song called Song For Zula was like aloe vera on my broken heart due to dumping my cheating partner a few weeks ago, as at the time of writing this. C'est La Vie. The pain of such setbacks may still be around, yet with C'est La Vie, there is space around that pain. Reading the comments of others who have listened to this song; there is space around their personal problems, challenges, and issues. Just let it be. C'est La Vie. Hopefully you enjoy this song as much as I have, in coping with a long lockdown, and with the unexpected setbacks from such, over the last few weeks in particular:

"That's how it goes. C'est La Vie."

"Alright, C'est La Vie."