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When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
If you’re looking for a short powerful book that will transform your life, this is the book to get. Out of my entire library, this book has continually provided me with some of the most elemental of insights that leaves me with a complete new resonance within my being. This book came to me at the most opportune moment of my life. I feel honored to have been gifted this book within the exact space that I was ready to awaken to something deeper within myself and the world. If you know anyone struggling right now who feels that everything is coming crashing down, this is the book to buy them.
Pema Chodron speaks from a place of deep compassion and love for others and herself. She introduces us to the moment that her life “Fell Apart”, and how that moment became an opportunity for her to explore that which was missing within it. This is the same element that is absent from most of our lives until we are ready to see.
The title of this book is extremely poetic in that when we think our life is Falling Apart, it can in fact simply be Falling Together. We all experience catastrophic losses throughout the course of our lives. It is apart of being human. Death, divorce, separation, addiction, and anything that appears to be fracturing your sense of Identity and Self is the moment of your own personal awakening. Times can be difficult but they only appear so. Things Do Fall Apart, then they Fall Together, then they Fall Apart again. It is our attachment to these moments and their desired outcomes that keep us stuck into believing that it’s all over when catastrophe occurs.
What I discovered from this book is that life is beautiful most especially within the challenges. The central compelling conversations that arise from her readings is that one must not simply Let Go of Fear but also of Hope. Hope keep you stuck within the future rather than being within the present. This does not mean that one lets go of love or compassion. We do not abandon our heart but we balance our Compassion with Wisdom.
In the end, you will come to discover that the things you hate today will become your greatest sources of strength and your moments of triumph. It’s not about getting somewhere. It’s not about putting it all back together again and wrapping a nice red bow around it. You begin to make space within yourself for the times when Things Fall Apart. Life presents itself to us exactly the way we need it to in order to show us where we are stuck and where we need to Let Go.
I have read this book over 30 times now and I continue to get something new out of it every time.
“We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”
“When there’s a big disappointment, we don’t know if that’s the end of the story. It may be just the beginning of a great adventure.”
“We can make ourselves miserable or we can make ourselves strong. The amount of effort is the same.”
“We think that by protecting ourselves from suffering we are being kind to ourselves. The truth is, we only become more fearful, more hardened, and more alienated.”
“The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.”
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron