One of my friends and clients posted a comment on Facebook. She said, “If your road to success has been a difficult one, you aren't living your truth.” The comments after it were very interesting.
One person liked it, but wanted it to be explained. In the explanation, my friend said it meant that “it isn't that difficult to live your best life and if we all have a purpose with God and love guiding us, why should it be difficult to live our purpose?
One person felt that like many things, it was easier to say than do. In truth, we choose our battles whether we feel we do or not. Another comment said that it was “not supposed to be easy.” Well, sometimes living your truth and following spirit can be easy, but without challenges, what would we learn?
Another person commented, “Was Gandhi's road to success, i.e. deposing the colonial despotism of empirical Britain through non-violent civil disobedience, difficult? I should say so. As far as I can tell he was the 20th century's most profound living and breathing embodiment of truth. Without difficulties and adversities there would be no way to develop the virtues of truth, courage, and joy. Difficulties rock! :)”
My friend’s reply was, “That's what Ghandi decided to do once he got there. He knew that was his purpose. And of course they happen, but they aren't supposed to rule our lives. If your EGO has control, things will always be hard.”
Ahh, and here we have an important point. We need ego to survive, to make us have the courage to do what we need. That is true whether what we are trying to do is fight a battle or simply offering our help to someone else. The key is that ego needs to be kept in check and not allowed to take over and run amuck.
Another commenter said, “Individuation is a process of shedding our many adaptations of self, adversity is most always the catalyst. What is 'success' otherwise?” And another added, “Once people realize they cannot control everything it's easy to let the difficulties slide off and live - Life itself will always serve up things that are not simple but it's up to the person and how they perceive it - they can look at it as a huge negative and let it get them down or they can embrace it and let it change them for the better. :)”
As I have been told and repeated, it is the person that looks at problems as challenges to overcome. If we do that, we cease to define something as negative or positive. They are simply things that we need to get past.
Of course, there was some smartass (me) that decided to chime in with, “Maybe that's my problem! I've been following my path and should have been on the road.”
My friend then replied, “Ha Ha Brian. Yes but you would be so unhappy on the road.”
Of course, my comeback was, “I know, I'd have to stay between the lines. :)”
This is also very true. There are those of us that simply have to work outside the lines, at least now and then. That is sometimes the difficult thing. Corporate America puts employees in cubicles and then tells them to think outside the box. Hmmm.
In what I do, there are a lot of standard things I can do to help someone, and they do work for a lot of people. But for those that these methods can not help, I have to find a different route or path. And lately, this different path seems to be more prevalent than the normal stuff. I have been doing more unwinding, more meditation, more life coaching if you will.
So, while I think I am living my truth, the road may be too confining. I do need to go outside the lines too often. So, my path is where I stay. But that works too.