I Trust in the Goodness of the Universe – affirmation

“The most important question you can ever ask is if the universe is a friendly place.” – Albert Einstein

Einstein went on to explain the meaning behind his quote and here’s what he said:

“For if we decide that the universe is an unfriendly place, then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries and our natural resources to achieve safety and power by creating bigger walls to keep out the unfriendliness and bigger weapons to destroy all that which is unfriendly and I believe that we are getting to a place where technology is powerful enough that we may either completely isolate or destroy ourselves as well in this process.

If we decide that the universe is neither friendly nor unfriendly and that God is essentially ‘playing dice with the universe’, then we are simply victims to the random toss of the dice and our lives have no real purpose or meaning.

But if we decide that the universe is a friendly place, then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries and our natural resources to create tools and models for understanding that universe. Because power and safety will come through understanding its workings and its motives.”

We do not know for sure if the universe is friendly or unfriendly. Maybe the more important question is which assumption works better for us. In the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ACT (a new form of psychotherapy), there is a key concept called ‘workability’. In ACT, you don’t focus on whether a thought is true or false but whether it is workable. Workable means if the thought helps you to a richer, fuller and more meaningful life. This is a good way to go about things. If we think that the universe is friendly, we behave in a more friendly way. We are more tolerant and loving. Maybe it is not so much if the universe is friendly or unfriendly. Maybe the universe is asking us: what kind of universe do you want?

We all have days when things are just not going our way. Instead of getting depressed, I say this affirmation “I Trust in the Goodness of the Universe” many times. It keeps my mind in a positive state. Try this affirmation for yourself when things are getting you down and see if it works for you.