When Life Isn’t Going Exactly As You Want…

This post is about the times when life does not go as we had hoped or as we want in the moment.

Its sad because we long for whatever it is we are dreaming about and also time is on our minds.

I get you.

Its painful how life sometimes goes. It is also beautiful though!

It is possible to have things not go exactly the way you want, but still enjoy life and all the beauty around it.  I recently read a great quote that said: “the difference between regret and gratitude is attitude“.  I think this is so great and so true.  Is there anything in the situation that there is to be grateful for?

Also remember this: everything always changes.  I am really realizing this as I get older and gain more life experience.  This in some ways is a bit scary (because what if you want things to stay the same?!), but in some ways also liberating, comforting and freeing.  If things aren’t going so well, isn’t it liberating to know that it won’t be forever? It will change.  And if things are going great, wouldn’t you want it to continue to evolve and grow?

People often say that life is a series of peaks and valleys. I never really thought about what this actually meant. Maybe I never thought about it.   But now I think it just clicked: You can’t have a peak without a valley and vice versa. They are both dependent on each other.  Furthermore, everyone goes through the valleys and peaks at different times.  In one moment you could be in a slump, with everything going wrong, with everyone around you seeming like they have it together.  A few years later. Things change.  With time, I think you realize to just take it in stride that you don’t always have to have it figured out.  Things change.

I recently had this image pop into my head that that I wanted to flow through life similar to how a stick flows down a river with a gentle current.  I have faith that the river will carry me along safely and when there is a rock or some bump in the path, I flow gently with the current (even if its a bit bumpy at times), rather than against it.    As the saying goes: “In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins; not through strength, but through perseverance.”  The stick can still affect its course and choose its path, but moves along with the ebbs and flows of what is along the way.

The river bank is the stick’s story. The story is beautiful….