THAT is Life!

It's a new year. 2021.  Everybody expected this year to be almost idyllic.  It was as if people thought that when the clock turned over at midnight, the world would be Covid free.  As if by magic the virus would just have disappeared.  However, spoiler alert, we all stepped into 2021 with this little complication called Covid-19 as well as its variants. Of course, most of us knew that it was not going to happen.  Yet, we felt slightly deflated at the realization that the virus was still here and would likely be with us for some time to come.

Most people have the expectation that life is, and should be, just plain sailing and straightforward.  We see the perfect life as problem free and easy, except for the pessimists out there, the Eeyore's of life.  The rest of us have hopes and expectations.  I am a great optimist myself.  However, I think I am an optimist with a streak of realism, but more about that just now.

The point I want to get to is that we, in general, expect our lives, our plans and ideas, our relationships and futures to have the green light of perfection all the way.  We live on a cloud of euphoria when we meet somebody new, when we enter into a new venture or change jobs.  And then one day...BOOM!  Life happens, yep, it hits the fan!  I discover my prince has feet of clay, my amazing job is making demands on me, my dream is not so perfect at all, or my exciting new venture does not meet all of my expectations.   This revelation catches us totally unaware and our chain is rattled.  That is when I want to divorce my partner, or quit my job.  I wallow in self-pity and declare the whole thing a mistake, a dead dodo!

Is this all true?  Was it really a mistake, did I make an error in judgement?  No. Life happened.  That is all.  Now what?  Do I throw my relationship away?  Do I resign my job or give up on my dream?  Of course you can.  It is your choice, after all, you probably have a good excuse.  Life happened, and you thought you were living in the land of eternal sunshine.  You see, that is the whole problem.  We think that life is supposed to be a fairytale, happy ever after.  The truth is that the fairytale authors neglected to add..."and with a lot of dedication, patience, forgiveness, selflessness and working on their communication skills, they lived happily ever after despite the difficulties and obstacles they faced almost daily."  THAT is life!

Life was never meant to be perfect.  What would the purpose of that be?  We would be so bored with nothing to strife for.  We would forever stay just as we  are without any opportunity for growth or gain.  Life will always have its challenges.  There will always be obstacles to navigate and problems to solve.  These are the things which develop our characters and it makes us strong and resilient.  Every difficulty becomes an opportunity to learn and expand our understanding of ourselves, of others and our purpose here on earth.  Every hurdle we face  takes us to a higher level of being alive.

Yes, we can take the easy way out.  We can quit.  We can run away.  We can take our dream and pack it away in some forgotten box.  However, that is a sure way to never reach your destination, and you will end up missing the journey altogether.

Life is what it is.  It comes with a whole set of complication and difficulties.  It has buckets full of heartache and tears,  truckloads of trials and temptations, but it also comes with joy, with abundance, with surprises and a bag full of magic.  Learning to cope and navigate and overcoming the detours is just part of it.  So put on your big girl panties.  Living life is glorious!!!