In 1976, the Indian philosopher Osho answered audience questions at his ashram. A man asked about his relationship and profession as a dentist. Was he making the right choices or throwing his life away?
Osho astutely observed that, since these two issues are somewhat diverse yet connected, there must be a deeper problem bothering the man. He was right. The man admitted to a general tendency to be negative and low-energy.
“If you feel a basic low energy, then you cannot make any decision,” Osho told him. “That is the problem for a low energy person, mm? You cannot decide—you go on thinking and thinking and wavering your whole life. But remember one thing: Whether you decide or not, a decision is continuously being taken. Even if you can’t decide—that too is a decision.” That last bit comes straight from Sartre.
Since the man’s inability to decide had led him to settle into what was right in front of him—dentistry for nine years and a certain woman for however long—Osho told him to flip the script. “Don’t give it a single thought again—just get out of it.” For a man who overthinks, more thinking could not possibly be the answer. So Osho told him to step back and see how he feels. Did he actually want to be a dentist? Then he should make a positive, affirming decision to be a dentist. And right now, he couldn’t do that because he had simply settled into the role.
As for the man’s fears of potentially losing both his job and his relationship, Osho only needed one line: “Be realistic: Plan for a miracle!” Still, he graciously elaborated: “There is nothing to worry about. At the most one can become a beggar. At the most death can happen—which is going to happen anyhow, mm? Take courage…and I am coming with you.”
Possibilities work in tandem, Osho believed. They are always connected. “When you close one door, another opens. If you don’t close this door, no other door opens—because it is the same energy which has to open the other door.”
Sometimes, the most pragmatic thing you can do is to throw caution to the wind—because the only way to find out what life truly has in store for you is to stop clinging to what you’ve already bought. So be realistic—and plan for a miracle!
