Life is Life!

Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is...
The way you cope with it is what makes the difference...
--Virginia Satir

It's kind of funny to think of life as "it's supposed to be," as if our experiences here on this planet have come with an instruction book and a user's manual... We see good things happen to other people and think that those good things should be happening with us, also. We see bad things happen to others and think that while they might deserve those things, we certainly do not, and they shouldn't happen to us at all...
But life is life, and it doesn't operate by rules. It flows. If a river suddenly finds its course blocked by a landslide, it simply changes its course. Life is like that, too. If we've put up blocks to the flow of life in our efforts to control things, then life will simply flow around us, and we may stand there a bit dumbfounded, saying "That's not the way things were supposed to be!"...
Life is what it is, and in our life experience other people will do what they do... How we react to life, and how we act in and towards life, is what mostly determines what our personal life experiences will be like.

It's that simple, and if life gets to be overwhelming and difficult, I need to slow down and ask myself an important question: is life really overwhelming and difficult, or are my reactions making it seem overwhelming and difficult to me?
I love the fact that life is as it is, though I have to remind myself of this constantly... Once I accept this fact, my life becomes much easier, much simpler, for I no longer need to try to control situations or outcomes. When I accept this fact, I free myself up to enjoy life, just as it is...

Nobody has things just as they would like them. The thing to do is to make a success with what material I have. It is a sheer waste of time and soul-power to imagine what I would do if things were different...
They are not different...
--Frank Crane


~ Living Life Fully ~