In today’s quote, Henry Miller claims everyone has a destiny. If it is true, that can be a scary proposition. If life isn’t going the way we hoped, if we are going through a tough time right now, we tend to believe that is our lot in life and to just accept it.
But should we? If our vision and values are misaligned with our current situation, should we just accept that’s the way things are?
We have the tendency to think that where we are at right now is where we will be for the rest of our lives. But we are never permanently stuck. Sure, today may be a puzzle for us.
We can feel like a skier that is stuck in a snowbank.
Discouragement can make us feel like giving up. We feel panic or a feeling of panic or despair well up within us.
As the novel coronavirus concerns ramped up, there was a big emphasis on working from home. But we soon heard, “What happens when you just can’t work remotely?”
For many office jobs, we found it was a possibility. As a graphic designer, that can be a preferred mode of working. After all, you just need a laptop and a speedy Internet connection, and you are in business. However, after two years, we’ve found there are aspects of remote work that just don’t work.
Also, there are many jobs where that just isn’t possible. Manufacturing requires workers to be at the machines and be productive. As a Graphics Manager at such a facility, I soon found I was needed at the plant. While we had some office workers off-site as a precaution, we still needed office workers there to keep the jobs moving.
While some schoolwork can be done remotely, someone has to be there to guide a child and keep him out of trouble. Someone has to be home to feed her. Sure, The parent can do that… while they are working remotely… and having their web conference with that important client… and keeping the dog quiet. What could go wrong?
We soon found out! Remote learning has been very hard for students. I feel for them. While remote employment has worked, remote learning has been very hard for kids.
Physical exercise makes us stronger. When we run a distance, or lift weights, the resistance causes our muscles to strengthen. It prepares us for when we face a physical challenge and gives us strength under pressure.
“If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.”
Proverbs 24:10 NLT
Mental and spiritual exercises do something similar. When we feed our mind and spirit, when we make ourselves do the hard work, it will help us when we face bigger challenges.
Does that mean we love exercise? Hardly! Self discipline can be difficult, especially when we have weak areas that we know needs to be strengthened. When we haven’t been exercising for a while, and we discover how weak we’ve become in such a short time, it’s humiliating and discouraging.
And when conditions aren’t optimal, it can be even harder. We may try to job, but the weather is nasty. Then there are the times we are exercising our minds, but we are tempted to turn on the TV and watch some mindless program. Maybe the kids are loud and demand our attention. Self discipline isn’t easy, is it?
But the long-term benefits far outweigh the short-term challenges. When we set a long-term goal, it helps us get over the short-term reluctance.
Few of us are in optimal shape physically, mentally and spiritually. We may be overwhelmed in one or multiple areas. It’s okay! Choose one aspect to focus on today. Start with small steps and know that we will improve in the long-term. Here are some suggestions to tory today.
Any of these could be useful when we face pressure. And who doesn’t eventually need strength under pressure?
Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.
There are very few of us that embrace change. We know that it makes people nervous and frustrated. Article after article affirms that. Yet if we’re honest, we will admit it is inevitable. Just why is change so hard?
When I sketched this idea, I observed people about twenty years older than me resisting texting. Nine years later, many of that generation has accepted texting as just another form of communication. Time marches on!
Change is a deceptively difficult thing. We have no problem finding reasons that it is so. Even when everyone agrees changes need to be made, reform is hard. People may disagree on why and how the alterations need to be made. They may even disagree how much and how sweeping a change needs to be. It just isn’t an easy thing!