Ryan Holiday said it best.
“What happens to us is an objective reality; how we respond is a subjective choice.”
I’ve talked about recognizing what you can control and what you can’t many times before. And I’m repeating it because it’s important. Sometimes you just can’t control what happens to you. What you can control is how you interpret those events.
When I was younger, I used to wish everything would come to me without effort. Age and wisdom have taught me I’d be miserable and bored if I magically got what I wished for.
Life is a story. And all good stories have conflict. What kind of tale would your life be if the main character didn’t grow. You are the main character, but you remain the same throughout your story; you never stretch, you never strive, and no lessons were ever learned. That would be a bad story and a waste of life.
I couldn’t say it better than Henry David Thoreau.
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”
I’ve learned you cannot have growth without a struggle. Why would you want to, anyway? There are some unalienable rules we must accept about human existence, and this is one of them.
You’ve got to experience the worst to appreciate the best. You can’t have happiness without knowing sadness. You can’t have success without the possibility of failure. You cannot have growth without a struggle.
It’s hard to convince ourselves this is the way to go, even when we see the evidence in our lives. Making the decision to live with the reality of struggle is one of the bravest things you can do. Most people will go through life and wish life were easier. But why don’t you wish you were better. Wish you had the courage and audacity to confront your fears. Wish you had the confidence to put yourself into situations that might not work.
Once you achieve everything you’ve ever wanted on the physical plane, you’ll find the person you have become will give you more satisfaction than your cars or homes. I’m not saying you shouldn’t strive for these things; just place them in the proper perspective. True happiness comes from who you’ve become. And you can only become that person through struggle. Don’t fight it, gentle reader; accept it, and transform your life. Embrace the struggle, Lean in, and
start living.
