We’ve all, to varied degrees in varied circumstances, fixated on life getting better. There times I’ve gone through rough patches and thought, “when will this ever end?”. Sometimes it seems everything that could go wrong, goes wrong.
There are times life is great and there’s nothing to worry or stress about. That is life; full of seasons. Life is dynamic and static at the same time. Some change will happen; consistent in that sense.
Joy and rest can be followed by unrest, anxiety and turmoil. Sometimes we experience contradicting realities in different aspects. Sometimes your career is great while strife and anxiety dominate your home life. Like I’ve said, at other times, everything goes great.
One thing that will always be true is that change is inevitable. That you will have to deal with some predicament you’ve never encountered. Sometimes it will be a variation of things you’ve dealt with. At other times it might just be the same ol’ thing you seem to always come back to.
On Life Getting Better
So, does life get better? I think life doesn’t change. Life doesn’t change. It goes through cycles. I dare say that some things might get worse as responsibility increases. Scary right?
One of the consolations is that as we learn to navigate the increasing challenges. Also with increasing responsibility the reward also increases. I know I’ve just said life doesn’t change. That is true, but, in another sense, it does.
Life, rather how we can experience life is what changes. To a great extent life is about how we engage with it. It is not just about what happens to us, it is, to a great extent, also about how we respond to it.
So how do we go about life getting better? I love how Paul Scanlon put it.
We get better. We grow. Life gets better because we get better. Life can be amazing if we’re willing to take the hits and grow with them. But what does getting better mean?
Getting better means we get to a way of life where we don’t think bad days are the same as a bad life. It means that we don’t act like brats when we don’t get what we wanted. Sometimes we do get what we want but not in the way we wanted.
A great life doesn’t mean being pain free. It is not one free of challenges and strife. It also isn’t one filled with pain. It is great joy; celebration. It is loving and being loved. It’s a mix of stuff. Gooey.
The greater challenge is knowing best how to respond to all change as it comes.
So…
Essentially, life doesn’t get better, we do — Paul Scanlon
A great reminder that we’re responsible for our own response to life. Paul Scanlon puts it very well too!
great stuff, yeah :-)