As promised yesterday, I will detail each of the Nine Steps to Success outlined in Day 100 over the next nine days.
The very first “Given” in life is that Life is a Struggle.
Life is a struggle . . . period! Many in our world today treat struggle as if it were a “four-letter-word” – as if it were some profane declaration better suited for dark alleyways or heated discussions. Struggle is neither good nor bad, it just is! Struggle is a natural part of life. Struggle is a Reality! The key to embracing and understanding struggle is found in our approach! We have the choice to either struggle aimlessly or struggle with purpose!
Struggling with purpose requires that we place life and living within a realistic context. That context is quite simple. Struggle is inevitable! We have no way to completely avoid it! Struggle is required! We must have it in order to accomplish tasks! Struggle is natural! We cannot grow in its absence! Learning to embrace and accept this reality can help us spend the best of our mental, emotional, physical, relational and spiritual energy in more proactive ways. Rather that spinning wheels working to change things over which we have little or no control, we can spend appropriate time and energy working to accept the reality of what has happened, take appropriate restorative action and then step into the arena of making choices that move us through the event and forward.
“Now this does not mean that life has no joy or happiness or fulfillment – NO WAY! It simply means that the essence of life is struggle. Without struggle, there is no growth; no understanding; no insight; no wisdom; no relationships; no love – no butterfly either, by the way.” Hundley, Mark E. (2013-01-04). Ten Surefire Strategies to Create a Better Life (Kindle Locations 174-176). Kindle Edition.
Here is the challenge for you today: Find a quiet place and either a piece of paper and pen or a keyboard and write about the most recent life struggle you have faced. Perhaps you are in the middle of that process as you write.
- What was the issue with which you struggled?
- How has that process affected you?
- What did you do to take appropriate restorative action? (grieve/mourn; reconcile a relationship; let go of something/someone toxic; set a new course of action, etc.)
- What was the outcome?
- What have you learned?
Happy Struggling!
Peace!
Mark E. Hundley
