Evolution is an interesting idea. For many, it’s a concept relegated to the world of science, an explanation for the procession of life…out there. But I think, just as easily, if we bring those ideas closer to home, we have the basis for an incredibly powerful life philosophy and direct access to the ultimate self-help manual.

The notion of evolution existed well before Darwin’s time, but his great insight was bringing to light the mechanistic driving force behind it, natural selection. You could say that natural selection is the fuel propelling evolution forward, and this fuel takes the form of change, adversity, and struggle. Without it, no evolution can take place. Now of course, this is drawing on a hypothetical and makes no sense to say that “no evolution can take place”; in our shared reality, change is that paradoxical constant, and the adversity and struggle born from her belly are unavoidable. Evolution must happen, it is written in the code of life, and one could argue, in fact, synonymous with life.

Sure, we may understand all this from an intellectual standpoint — from that lens perceiving the world out there — but do we apply this same set of principles to how we live our own life? The critical question comes down to this: Do we live a life in which the choices we make foster our own evolution, or stymie it? The inputs which allow natural selection to do her thing — change, adversity, and struggle — do we embrace them like the re-ignited flame of a long lost love? Or, rather, do we coil in their company, quick to flee and seek refuge in our familiar routines and comforts, wading in our shallow seas of shorter-term pleasure and placation?

In the same token, are we able to relinquish control out there while redirecting this urge in here? To let the stream of reality flow as it so chooses while seizing our only locus of control: how do we learn, how do we grow, how can we evolve? To resist nothing and emphatically shout Yes to it all — the beauty, mystery, cruelty, community, division, derision, suffering, love and hate, it has all collaborated through this intricate evolutionary web to make us “us”- can we lay to rest our guilt, quell that harrowing inner voice by the name of Angst, and simply rejoice in her magnificence? Are we able to gaze at the beauty of the blossoming flower and maintain that same awe in the harshness of her winter? Can we once and for all resist the urge to put on the mask of God — proclaiming this to be good or that to be bad — and muster the courage to humbly ask “What do we really know?”.

The answer lies right in front of us, if we could only drop all the pretenses and illusions we harbor it would be there in plain sight for us all to see. We are this very moment and this very moment us. By running from this present, we not only hinder our own evolutionary potential, but we also affront that divine source, that regenerative life force that runs through all. It doesn’t matter what you call it — Evolution, Life, or God — what matters is that you see it and feel it. We all have our gods after all — whether we consciously acknowledge them or not — but it’s on us to choose them wisely. Personally, I like to kneel at the altar of Lady Evolution — my evolution, your evolution, our evolution — who has bestowed upon us the greatest gift of the present, and for that I live my life in constant gratitude.