The dings, rings, and pings infiltrating our lives leave us exhausted yet anxious at the end of each day.
Even when the dings, rings, and pings don’t come, we’re compelled to quickly search for a stimulus more expediently rewarding than a moment of the difficult or mundane.
Drugs, screens, and other distractions can temporarily take our attention away from the unpleasantries of life.
These can become a go-to coping mechanism however, steering our attention from what fills life with beauty and meaning.
Despite life’s struggles, we’ve all had experiences that transcend the boundaries of what we thought possible for happiness, connection, and love.
Our willingness to feel and lean in to the miracle of these moments is what brought them meaning.
Whether you’re currently experiencing beauty, or a battle, meaning is all but impossible to find in a state of distraction.
Sometimes life’s biggest challenges can teach the most meaningful lessons.
That is, if you’re not too distracted to learn.
The day after my wife passed unexpectedly this fall, I publicly committed to going through the process of grief, not around it. The days that have followed have been the most trying of my life.
I’ve sat in paralyzing fear and sorrow. I’ve weathered storms of outrageous anger, emotional pain, and helplessness.
I’ve allowed myself to feel every bit of it and I can tell you that these moments have been nightmarish.
But…
I’ve found that yesterday’s menacing moments give me the tools to manage tomorrow’s more effectively.
In my reluctant willingness to feel the unimaginable, there has also emerged enough joy and beauty for me to start looking to “tomorrow’ once again.
The awareness and understanding of how I feel has showed me the difference between what I feel, and what I believe.
This life changing revelation would be lost in a state of perennial distraction.
Lean into the moment, good or bad.
Feel and learn.
While these moments can bring difficulty and sorrow, they can also reveal beauty, love, and infinite connection.
The greatest revelation one can have in life is that ladder is worth the former.
