Sunday, August 9, 2009

The Mystery of Life

It's strange, we never question why we are blessed, we never want an explanation for it, we willingly accept it as a part of life. When we are challenged by life, we need an explanation. It's as if by understanding the reason for it, it will somehow make it easier to accept. Yet it really doesn't matter the reason 'why' because even knowing the answer still leaves you in the same place; you have to deal with the challenge.

If you think about it, it is the challenges, the heartaches, the sorrows in life that present us with our greatest opportunities to learn and grow. In them we find the strength to carry on; the courage to begin anew; the understanding and compassion to walk a mile in someone else's shoes; and sometimes the realization that we are far more blessed than we ever thought. Often it is in the darkest moments of others that we see our own capacity to give selflessly - our time, our support, our love, our compassion, not giving thought to 'what do I get from doing this' merely giving because from the deepest part of our being we want to be able to help in some small way to ease their burden. Perhaps in the back of our mind is the old saying "There but for the Grace of God, go I".

Things happen in life that seem senseless, random, cruel. Things we wish we could explain, understand, fix. Is there a higher purpose to these things that we just don't see? Perhaps. That, however, is for wiser minds than mine to contemplate and answer. For me, these challenges are an opportunity to allow random acts of love, kindness and compassion to flow out into a world that sometimes gets so caught up in the 'things' of life that it forgets the 'heart and soul' of life.

Release the need to know 'why'. Instead, look within and ask "What can I do now to help improve this situation?" Actions speak louder than words; whether it's for yourself or someone else, any positive action anchored in positive intent, is only going to make things better.

Count the blessings in your life - may they always far outweigh the sorrows