Life is not linear. When we tell our story we tell it in a way that will make sense. But the reality is all of us go through twists and turns. It’s the zigging and zagging of our lives that make our story worth telling. Sometimes we think our life is supposed to have some grand meaning; and just like Jesus came through 40 and two generations; we journeyed through space and time to be here at this exact moment. And while on a certain level that is true, what is more true is, our primary purpose in life is simply to enjoy it.
How do we enjoy the winding road of our lives? The way we defeat ourselves in this area specifically, is by trying to rationalize or make sense of everything that we go through. Not everything you experience has to make sense. That does not mean it is not important or valuable, it just is not have to be nice and neat. At some point in your life journey, you may look up one day and ask yourself “how did I get here?”
Maybe you strayed off the beaten path not realizing it and now you do not know what direction to turn. Maybe life presented you with a short cut that ended up being a reroute. Or maybe even you were on track but had to take a detour, but the detour has been longer than expected. That is life. This is life. Not difficult, just not always easy.
Maybe you are being contorted by your trajectory and your personality. Where who you are as a person, and where your life is leading you, does not seem to be coming into alignment.
What do you do when you are too far out to turn back?
Life is a compilation of decisions. All it takes is one decision right or wrong to end up down a long and tight corridor, metaphorically or otherwise. Has your life become a corridor? Has pavement turned to dirt for you? This is where the ambiguity of life lives. The known unknown.
Growth does not only take place in the classroom. Revelation can come from anywhere. When you find yourself lacking a landmark that is because you are the landmark. Rather you have become it. Sometimes in life we have to remember why we set out in the first place.
It can be so easy and tempting to go through life and do nothing/make nothing of yourself. Especially if you are enabled to do so. The awe and wonder associated with living comes from actually choosing to do so. Life does not happen on the sidelines. Consider your favorite sport. The game takes place on the field not on the bench. The difference between a sport and life is you do not have to be good at life to get playing time.
Choosing to embark on your journey is choosing to live. The joy of life is in knowing that you chose to live. That is why when things are tough you cannot find it in yourself to give up. Being alive does not mean you have a life.
A life is something that you get. Once you make up in your mind that you want to get a life you are subject to whatever life wants to throw at you.
In the Bible there is a story about a man named Job who was honestly just minding his business. The story starts when God decides to allow the devil to test Job’s faith. What does this mean for you and I? Neither of us fully know what we are going to go through in life. That being said however, while we may not be able to control what comes to us, we can control how we respond/what we do about it.
If you are in the place called ambiguity remind yourself of how you got there. If you are too far to turn back, might I suggest to you that you are not lost. The answer to “why am I here?” is in you. The next thing to ask yourself once you understand your circumstance is “what do I have to lose?”
Sometimes when you are outside of your norm the first thing you might consider is to go back the way you came. Know this, that if you were to make a U-turn at this point in your life what you think you’d be going back to would not be there. Sure, the infrastructure will be, but what condition will it be in? Also, the reason you left is likely itself not to have left. Environment does not change desire.
When you find yourself in the proverbial nowhere of life, that means it’s likely time for a perspective change.
Going back feels safe because its familiar, but familiar is not always safe. Also, are you willing to compromise on the progress that you have made thus far? Why would you consciously choose to regress? Not saying that there is not a justification to do so, but is the justification justifiable in and of itself?
God wants you to obtain something in the uncomfortable place. The bells and whistles of life are exactly that. Consider the things that truly matter. When you come to an understanding of what is consequently important in the grand scheme of life you will realize that it is a short list. Considering that which is gone will not make it the same. Once you come to the point of not having anything else to lose that leaves you with one last alternative, everything to gain.
When you have come too far to turn back–don’t. when you press forward, you press forward into yourself. The revelation in ambiguity is you. Sometimes less is more. And sometimes we cannot get more because we have too much. You came this far for a reason. You cannot turn back now. What is there for you to go back to, seriously? And is that worth the progress that you have made thus far?
Ken
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