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Wise and well-said. In the throes of mid-life, as I acknowledge that I’ve likely lived more than half my life, maybe much more, I’m awakening to the truth that peace and meaning now, as well as in coming to terms with death, depends on “accepting that change is just the way it is.” No easy task, but your clear and kind article helps a great deal in that process

Thank you for this response, Jagdish. It resonates a lot and I appreciate the Tillich tip. As a recovering atheist/agnostic, I find prayer difficult, but when I think of God as the ground of our being, I can express thanks for and connection to ground of being easily, and I do think a prayer practice--something more active and woven through my days--would be so helpful to keeping my feet on the ground of being and awareness more consistently. It is easy to be swept away by all the oughts and just collapse into the relief of passive escapism (which is great sometimes!), but the quests for connection, meaning, responsibility for each other, etc (values quests)without oughts is where I want to land, and aremade easier from a place of self-compassionate groundedness.