Category : Articles
Sub Category : Motivation
Have you ever wondered to yourself why life is hard? Or have you ever felt that life is unfair? Or better yet, have you ever asked yourself what is it exactly that you wish to learn in this lifetime?
Believe it or not, your answer to the third question actually holds all the answers to the first two questions.
If it is your wish to learn patience in this lifetime for example, you will not learn it if you are surrounded by Zen Masters. You will only learn patience from people who push your buttons and annoy you to the ends of the earth.
If it is your wish to learn love, you can bet your life on it that you will be shown hate. No matter what you wish to learn, you will be shown the opposite. You may think that this makes no sense at all but think about it, if you choose to learn self confidence for example, do you think you'd be able to learn it if you are surrounded by people who are honest and genuine? No. You will learn more through shady friends who step on you. Why? Because it is only in being stepped on that you would have no choice but to learn to stand up for yourself.
Self development can be a deeply painful process that by nature requires us to be scrubbed. It is after all, in the repetitive scrubbing of a diamond that it gains its sparkle, right? We are no different. And when we talk about pain, bear in mind there are two types of pain. One is learning pain and the other is abusive pain. While the latter serves little to no purpose, the former is fundamental to our growth as human beings.
Other than 'beginner's luck', which, in my opinion is life's way of showing us that we can achieve a high level of success (of course, with constant practice), the first step to growth is actually in being knocked off balance. In reality, we get knocked off center by 'x' amount of time in our life, which is directly proportionate to how much we have chosen to learn. It is through learning and growth that we are able to come back to our center with the tools that were required to bring us back the balance. And the flip side of our return to balance is expressed directly as growth.
Life, with its quirky sense of humour will continue to send us lessons. One of the most frustrating truth to accept from its 'humour' is this: "Wow, you learned a lesson, overcame a problem? Congratulations. Here is your reward.... ANOTHER problem."
Messed up, right? But here's the fact, each time you show life you can take the heat, life becomes a little hotter. It is simply one of the painful aspects to this path of learning, yet it is beautiful because of the growth you experience from it.
The main thing to remember is that it is the people in your life who come to teach you these lessons. It is the people you love, who by your consent, hurt you. It is your friends who betray you and it is also them who give you your opportunities to learn.
So the next time you feel the heat and you feel that life is hard and unfair, just take a moment to breathe and look around you. Who is there with you and what has that person come to teach you? The answers are all there deep within you. All you need to do is dig deep.
