I used to think that once I started my journey of personal development and self-awareness that life would get easier. I figured that drama would be eliminated from my life and everything would be love and light. Boy, was I wrong!
This isn’t to say that there isn’t any point to personal growth and development. Creating a spiritual practice, whatever that looks like for you, doesn’t make you immune to life’s challenges. What it does do if provide you with tools to cope with those obstacles in a more productive way.
I remember reading something about Wayne Dyer once regarding his divorce. Someone was saying that he’s full of shit because clearly what he preaches doesn’t work because he and his wife were parting ways. I think that a lot of people believe that those who help others deal with challenges in their lives shouldn’t have any of their own, but how realistic is that?
Pastors and therapists have family troubles. Does that mean that they can’t provide you with the guidance you need? Do you want advice from someone who has never known struggle in their own lives, or do you want someone who can empathize and provide you with support based on their personal and professional experience?
Call me a cynic, but people who appear to have “perfect lives” make me uncomfortable. It feels unreal to believe that there are people going through life without encountering any kind of challenge or obstacle. Unless they’re living in a bubble, how is it that they have never had any worry of trouble in their life?
I don’t think that it’s possible to avoid conflict in our lives. I don’t believe those experiences should define us either. What I do believe is that there are things we can do that help us to deal with the difficult times we encounter in life. There are tools available to us that allow us to get through those times without allowing them to swallow us whole.
If there’s anything that I’ve learned from the interviews I’ve done for my podcast to-date, it’s that everyone goes through something in our lives that rocks our world. What may seem life shattering to some may look like no big deal to others. The point is that stuff happens and it doesn’t make us good or bad, capable or incapable.
I don’t think perfection is the end goal. I think the point is to grow, to learn and to do better once we know better. Instead of judging one another for not being perfect, we should support one another as we work through the challenges that life presents us with. ♥