Life is Constantly Happening For You

You just need to be willing to see it

Photo by marina on Unsplash

The greater the challenges we face in life, the greater the growth we have as a person. I remember how part of me was resisting what my partner said a few months back. I felt confused yet felt a glimmer of truth in his words.

“You never wanted the easy way. You’re not here just because of me, you wanted a path of growth.”

It’s sometimes hard to hear and see clearly when bottled up with emotions. I was feeling resentful at times that I had to settle in a new country and was facing some challenges. My inner dialogue began to point toward blame and self-pity.

“But why would I not want the easy way?” I thought to myself. “Am I mad or what?!”

Recently, I had a new understanding of what he saw then. A slogan outside a clothing shop caught my eye, ‘ease into lightness’ flashed across the shopfront, with a minimalistic font and a carefree image of a young woman dressed in some trendy sportswear.

I had a lightbulb moment with what I’ve been reflecting on — life isn’t meant to be easy, but it can be ease-filled. To take it further, keeping things simple is key, but simple requires mastery and courage.

“Any fool can make things complicated, it requires a genius to make things simple.” — E.F. Schumacher

To make things ease-filled and simple for us, begin to see every challenge, and every roadblock as happening for us, not to us. It’s having grace and appreciation for all of your experiences, and giving yourself some space for emotions to settle and wash through you, instead of reacting and resisting reality.

When things get rocky, simply breathe into the space of your heart area, and ask yourself, how am I feeling? What do I need here? It’s important to step out of the thinking mind, as it often leads us to roads of blame, self-judgment, or spiraling us into intense emotions and reactions.

Just like navigating a journey on the sea, it’s a path that keeps us stuck in the deep dark caves, and the longer we stay there, the less of a chance we’ll see the vastness of the ocean out there. What we resist, persists is one of the key mindfulness learnings I’ve integrated, and over the years, I became better and better at riding through waves of uncomfortable emotions by resourcing myself through mindfulness practices.

“The earth has music for those who listen. “ — George Santayana

I always find connecting with nature and observing a sea, a tree, or the sky so nurturing and it gives me a sense of surrendering to something larger than me. Nature is one of the best teachers of trust and patience, and how things are working without us hurrying, and pushing for more.

When I connect with the stability of the earth and the vastness of the sky, I know deep in my truth that there’s a season and the right time and place for everything to happen.

My job here isn’t to strive for less — wishing things were easier, neither is it striving for more — trying too hard to make things happen. But the wisdom lies in being in the right relationship with things around me, gaining acceptance and appreciation of wherever I am, and whatever life is presenting to me, I whisper to myself thank you, thank you for the lessons.