"There's a common misunderstanding among all the human beings who have ever been born on the earth that the best way to live is to try to avoid pain and just try to get comfortable. You can see this even in insects and animals and birds. All of us are the same.
A much more interesting, kind, adventurous, and joyful approach to life is to begin to develop our curiosity, not caring whether the object of our inquisitiveness is bitter or sweet. To lead a life that goes beyond pettiness and prejudice and always wanting to make sure that everything turns out on our own terms, to lead a more passionate, full, and delightful life than that, we must realize that we can endure a lot of pain and pleasure for the sake of finding out who we are and what this world is, how we tick and how our world ticks, how the whole thing just is." -Pema Chodron
Lately I've been looking at how we struggle. I know we all have it in some form or another. Within ourselves... at home... at work... at times that we don't want to admit. When we feel that struggle we get uncomfortable. We wiggle, squirm, read books, Google, ask friends, seek some sort of treatment or remedy to get back to where we feel we need to be.
But what if we need struggle? What if it is essential to our experience here in life?
If anything this struggle- or stress, or feeling of hopelessness- can teach us something. Through the years when I struggle, I have found that it has taught me that I have a level of perseverance that I didn't even realize I had. A level of commitment-not just to family, friends-but to myself.
In a way, I'm glad to have opportunities of struggle to feel out these corners of myself. To find out how I fight for me. How I fail at it many, many times but still get back up-wipe the dirt off my face and stand tall trying again.
We always put on big overcoats with pockets full of fears, let downs, negativity and regret. No matter the season, the weather in our life-things can be warm and sunny but we think we still need to wear these coats-heavy and limiting to our ability to be free and enjoy. It is not until we are made aware of our layers that we clothe ourselves in-shutting out what life has to offer-when we can acknowledge we are unnecessarily cloaked, and can finally be able to enjoy a fresh, warm breeze.
Next time you may feel uncomfortable and unsettled about the way life is going, slow down and allow yourself to dig deep. Pull yourself into that vulnerability and be okay with the in between. Before a problem can be solved, it should be examined and explored. Otherwise, we will come to the same misinterpreted conclusions...
A much more interesting, kind, adventurous, and joyful approach to life is to begin to develop our curiosity, not caring whether the object of our inquisitiveness is bitter or sweet. To lead a life that goes beyond pettiness and prejudice and always wanting to make sure that everything turns out on our own terms, to lead a more passionate, full, and delightful life than that, we must realize that we can endure a lot of pain and pleasure for the sake of finding out who we are and what this world is, how we tick and how our world ticks, how the whole thing just is." -Pema Chodron
Lately I've been looking at how we struggle. I know we all have it in some form or another. Within ourselves... at home... at work... at times that we don't want to admit. When we feel that struggle we get uncomfortable. We wiggle, squirm, read books, Google, ask friends, seek some sort of treatment or remedy to get back to where we feel we need to be.
But what if we need struggle? What if it is essential to our experience here in life?
If anything this struggle- or stress, or feeling of hopelessness- can teach us something. Through the years when I struggle, I have found that it has taught me that I have a level of perseverance that I didn't even realize I had. A level of commitment-not just to family, friends-but to myself.
In a way, I'm glad to have opportunities of struggle to feel out these corners of myself. To find out how I fight for me. How I fail at it many, many times but still get back up-wipe the dirt off my face and stand tall trying again.
We always put on big overcoats with pockets full of fears, let downs, negativity and regret. No matter the season, the weather in our life-things can be warm and sunny but we think we still need to wear these coats-heavy and limiting to our ability to be free and enjoy. It is not until we are made aware of our layers that we clothe ourselves in-shutting out what life has to offer-when we can acknowledge we are unnecessarily cloaked, and can finally be able to enjoy a fresh, warm breeze.
Next time you may feel uncomfortable and unsettled about the way life is going, slow down and allow yourself to dig deep. Pull yourself into that vulnerability and be okay with the in between. Before a problem can be solved, it should be examined and explored. Otherwise, we will come to the same misinterpreted conclusions...
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