Life Gets in the Way?—?On Purpose

H.G. Wells says, “What on earth would man do with himself if something didn’t stand in the way?” Think of all we could accomplish if we didn’t encounter obstacles to the pursuit of our dreams.

We humans are creative?—?gifted in so many ways?—?to the benefit of self, benefit of others, benefit of the planet. And yet, in direct opposition to those gifts are a myriad of obstacles. Sometimes it is our own best intentions that oppose us. Sometimes the world itself seems to be ordered in such a way as to thwart our every effort. Perhaps it is as basic as physical science: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Whatever the reason, the question becomes, Why?

Life is not easy. Life is a push, pull, advance, retreat, a climb up, a slide down, endless trudging and beautiful vistas. Life is designed to be pushed against?—?to strengthen us, to help us develop our character and tap into resourcefulness that may have before eluded us. We have dreams, goals, vision, and purpose. It is in living out the dreams and goals that we come into our power as humans. The goal itself is of little consequence if taken out of the context of who we become in the process of attaining it.

If creating a designed life were easy, everyone would have one. The truth is that having the life we want is both incredibly easy and incredibly difficult. It is easy if we are willing to do whatever it takes. Simple. One thing to do. The “whatever it takes” is the tricky part. I refer to this process as being in the rock tumbler of life. The endless grinding and rubbing and polishing will absolutely smooth the sharp edges and reveal character. The result is a gem of a life. It is our willingness to stick with it, to be polished, that ultimately brings the results we claim we want.

The alternative is to live life by default, settling for what we are handed, wishing and dreaming for more, overwhelmed and afraid to try something different. After considering this alternative, jumping in and creating the life we want doesn’t seem like such a difficult choice after all.

To ponder what we humans might do if nothing stood in our way is an awesome thought, but life isn’t so ordered. Life does get in the way?—?on purpose, and it is our privilege to find our way through it and become our best selves along the way.

When we’re living life as our best selves, it’s a whole lot more fun.

Jeannine

Triple certifications as a life, relationship and grief recovery coach. I know the heartache of leaving a life you love, and leaving a family without its container. I am divorced, just like you. My divorce came after 30 years of marriage. I was “in it” (the pain, turmoil, confusion, blame, guilt, etc) for a number of years, since it took us nearly 5 years to get divorced. Checkout my Blog:www.beyonddivorce.com/blog