The “Life Maze”
There’s a big difference between the maze you see drawn on paper and a physical maze one, typically made out of hedges. Sometimes, when we’re not sure which way to go in life, it helps to imagine our life as a physical maze. This depiction reveals three important realities about life that can help put our uncertainties about which way to go into perspective.
“You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.”
If you’ve ever thought ‘why me?’ when something bad happens to you or when you realize your situation isn’t quite what you hope, there could be a simple answer to that question. The simple answer could just be because that’s the life you’ve been given. When we’re born, we have no choice over what life we would be given. We have no control over the cards we’ll be dealt. We may not feel like we can change, let alone handle, our life. However, this anonymous quote (possibly by Ain Eineziz) reminds us that whatever life we’re uniquely given is also one we’re strong enough to live. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be…
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
Sadness, frustration, hardship, and loss are almost unavoidable in life. Therefore, praying for an easy life would be an unrealistic expectation. There’s no such thing as a life free of these conditions no matter your geographic location, socioeconomic status, age, or piety. The truth is, there are always going to be some negatives intermixed with the positives. This is why, as suggested in this Bruce Lee quote, we should pray for strength for when we do fall on hard times rather than pray that we never do at all. There’s no such thing as a life free of sadness, frustration, hardship, and loss. However, having the strength to surmount these…
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“Successful people have fear, successful people have doubts, and successful people have worries. They just don’t let these feelings stop them.”
Depression Part 3: Finding the Cause and Working Toward the Solution
“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.”
“To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”
When you want to physically get somewhere, you need to choose a form of transportation that’s mobile–something that moves–like a car, bike, plane, or your own two feet. You wouldn’t sit yourself on the floor and expect to go from point A to point B. Now let’s apply that same concept to when you want to get somewhere nonphysical. In other words, you want to reach a professional, mental, or health-related destination. This quote, by Yann Martel, implies that having doubt is the same as deciding to sit down on the floor expecting to reach a physical destination. The opposite of doubt, however, is faith. Faith is like the car,…
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“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along’.”
“The struggles we endure today will be the ‘good old days’ we laugh about tomorrow.”
When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.
“Change is hardest at the beginning, messiest in the middle and best at the end.”
Sometimes, change can feel abrupt. But it’s actually a process–a journey. This quote, by Robin Sharma, summarizes that process, especially when change forces us out of our comfort zone. It’s kind of similar to the process of constructing a house, doing major reorganizing, or moving from one residence to another. At first, it’s hard to get started. The task is rather daunting. As we get halfway there, things start to get messy. Halfway through, the house under construction is typically a mess. There might be exposed framework with no walls, tools and nails on the floor, a lot of dust, and a ladder in the middle of nowhere. Halfway through…
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.”
In the popular workbook activity, connect the dots, you typically look ahead to connect one dot to the next. But life is not a workbook activity. This quote, from Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University, reminds us that, in life, you connect the dots looking backwards not forward. It’s only after some things have unfolded that we’re able to look back and see how each event is connected. Until then, we just have to trust that they will be.
“Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won’t have a title until much later.”
Many authors start to write a chapter without knowing what it’s going to be called. They decide that later. The same can be said of life. We don’t know what each chapter of our life will become as we’re writing (i.e. living) it. We can only look back at the pages later and define each time period. However, we often try to define our life chapters before they’re even written. But this quote, by Bob Goff, reminds us to embrace the uncertainty. We don’t have to know what our life chapters will become or what they’ll be called. And that uncertainty doesn’t necessarily forebode a terrible ending. It is actually…
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“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along’.”
Seven Things We Forget to Be Thankful for Each Day
“Life has two rules: #1 Never quit #2 Always remember rule # 1.”
“Begin to see yourself as a soul with a body rather than a body with a soul.”
This quote, by Wayne Dyer, has a way of making us think beyond the here and now–beyond the things that may be weighing us down and beyond our physical being. We are all so much more than our occupation, physical appearance, accomplishments, and shortcomings. It’s important to take care of our body. But in addition to that, how can we take care of our soul? It’s a part of us that’s all our own. One that can never be duplicated or imitated.
PositLive Music: “Better Days”
“Better Days” Written by: Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, and John Nathaniel Released: March 25, 2020 The writers of this song, including lead singer Ryan Tedder, were inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic (Source). The promise of “better days” is in the context of a global pandemic. However, the lyrics to the song can be applied to any situation in which we might feel helpless. This song is about having hope that better days will come whenever we’re faced with such situations. Select PositLive Music: Lyrical Playlist to view all playlist songs as they’re being added.Select Exploring New Ways to PositLive to read about the inspiration for PositLive Music. “Better Days” Sung…
“Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all. When there’s a big disappointment, we don’t know if that’s the end of the story. It may just be the beginning of a great adventure.”
“Let there be room for not knowing.” This quote, by Pema Chödrön, is about finding comfort in not knowing. This sounds like a contradicting response to uncertainty. The typical and most natural response is anxiety and discomfort. However, not knowing can actually be the thing that takes away our sense of anxiety and discomfort. As this quote states, not knowing means we don’t know the end of the story; And what a beautiful thing that is. So when there’s a big disappointment, we don’t really know if it’s the beginning of something good. Therefore, we can replace our anxiety and discomfort in not knowing with a feeling of hope.
