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Today's
Meditation:
As
we grow up, some well meaning but misguided adults try to
teach us that one of the goals of life is to avoid pitfalls,
to make as few mistakes as possible, to try to make our
lives as smooth and as trouble-free as possible. If
these people were successful in teaching us these things, I
think that most of us would lead very dull lives of very
little learning, and that would be a shame.
The
people who tend to thrive in life are those who realize that
life is going to throw us some curveballs and that we're
going to make mistakes as we go along-- many of them dreadful
mistakes with unpleasant consequences. Trial and error
lead to learning, but if we avoid the trial and error part,
just how much can we expect to learn about our own abilities
and limitations?
Many
people become disillusioned because they expect life to be a
smooth ride with very few bumps. Their disillusionment
is one of the hardest things that they have to deal with,
and I'm sure it makes it difficult for them to see their
lives clearly.
Once
we accept the fact that our journeys through our lives are going
to be full of speed bumps and detours and other obstacles
and trials, we can start to love those things for what they
are-- probably the best teachers we can get while we're here
on this planet. I've had my share of them, and I know
that I'm a better, stronger, wiser person for having passed
through the obstacles and made many mistakes than I ever would have become if I had
been able to avoid them all.
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