Re: Embracing the Pain
I read Yordi's thoughtful post, Embracing the Pain, and got the urge for a new July Reply. Running has never been my thing, but that was not the essence of his post anyway. What caught my eye were these last lines:
Life seems designed to throw challenges at you, again and again. It's the way we deal with them that defines us.
So true!
How we deal with these challenges varies from person to person, and we may prepare ourselves to deal with them better when they come:
- Running
- Doing yoga
- Lifting weights
- Meditating
- Reading
- Writing
- Painting
- Crocheting
- Blogging
- Spending time in nature
- Eating healthy
- Playing music
All great! It won't make us immune, but we'll be better equipped when the bomb goes off again. Or will we?
No matter how we prepare and protect ourselves, there is still one basic truth that we need to be aware of. We must carry it with us — unquestionably, always, and forever. This fundamental truth is like all other preparations, compounded and on steroids:
Accepting that life will throw challenges at us — again and again and again…
Not "accept" as in "fuck it, nothing matters”. Accepting as in understanding, truly knowing, that this is the way of the universe. It's a basic requirement for development and continued life. Buds burst and turns into blooming spring, the caterpillar becomes a butterfly, and we as humans grow with each new challenge.
Once we truly know that life is difficult — once we truly understand and accept it — then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.
— M. Scott Peck