"The Sooner You Learn This Lesson, the Better"

Over much of my life and career I have had the privilege of hearing people's stories. Whether as a pastor, a business owner, life coach, or just as a friend, I have been invited into people's lives, often when they are most vulnerable...but since my personal mission is to help people overcome the challenges and barriers that prevent them from thriving, I generally feel at home in these situations.

It's not easy, but it's rewarding.

And that is really my point today.

I don't have to tell you that life can be hard, do I? I mean, it's no secret that we all face difficulties...sometimes of our own making, but just as often not.

And here's where it gets tricky.

Sometimes, the bigger problem isn't what we're going through, it's that we think we shouldn't be.

Or if this or that happens, life will get easier.

After we make that deal...

After we make the sale...

After we land that big client...

Life will be easier

After the season...

After I graduate...

After the wedding or funeral...

After the kids get older...

After we get the new house...

After we get X amount in the bank...

After we retire...

Life will be easier

I hate to break it to you, but in general, I don't think life gets easier. SORRY!

Yes, life can feel like a roller-coaster with all it's ups and downs. We talk about mountain top experiences and also being the in the valley...even the valley of the shadow of death (see Psalm 23)

But I also think life is like railroad tracks. It's both good and bad. In fact, I would say, life is rarely as good as we'd like, but not as bad as we fear. It's generally somewhere in the messy middle.

Life is both good and bad...rewarding and challenging.

Take parenting. It's a wonderful mixture of wonderful and hard. Being a parent and now grandfather is a precious gift...but it's hard too.

It's both/and, not either/or

How about marriage? Again, wonderfully good and hard

Running a business? Same...good and bad, rewarding and difficult.

How about being healthy? It's good...and hard.

Almost any meaningful pursuit comes with it's challenges and is hard to achieve.

I don't think anyone is exempt, but somehow, we look at someone's vacation pics and we start to question why our life is so hard and they have it so easy.

I assure you, they don't. Want to know how I know that?

Because life is hard! Did I say that already?

You can blame your parents, your genetics, your spouse, your boss, or Adam & Eve if you want to, but that won't change anything.

The more we believe life "should" be easier, the more difficult it will be, leading to a constant state of frustration, blame and hopelessness.

The sooner we accept the rails of good and bad, the better.

But you say, "Dan, what difference will it make to accept that life is good and bad?"

Great question...more next time

But here's a hint...as Jim Rohn said, "Don't expect life to get easier, be better."

In other words, don't wait for things to get easier, handle hard better.

Next time, we'll take a closer look at how to do that.

In the meantime, if you know of someone who is struggling and in need of encouragement, share this blog with them.

Until next time - Dan