I'm so frustrated!!! I just feel this tension inside my being like something is getting ready to change and I don't know what it is. I'm just not in a comfortable place in my life and I don't know why. These are a few of the statements I've heard over the last few weeks from different people in different places... I've even had the thoughts rolling around in my head and heart lately. When I find myself in this place then I began to search back through my database of experiences to see if I can find a lesson or some application that will help bring back a measure of comfort and seeming sanity to my life. One lesson that I've heard and learned and was reminded of the other night while watching the movie Cars was, "If you want to know where you're going then look where you've been." At first glance that seems just as confusing as the frustration I'm feeling now, but as I simplify it then I find that it brings a lot of peace to my heart about what's going on in my life.
I am surprised by how I have a pattern to my life... a circle, if you will, that I go around and around in my life. No matter what my geographical location I see the same pattern in affect. At first I saw this as bad and something that needed to be broken or changed, but I have come to have a different perspective on it the last few times around. That brings out another nugget that I have to keep in mind as I feel this frustration... "My perception is my reality." How I perceive things to be is how they are to me no matter what others think or say. I can change my perception though and in that my view of this frustration begins to change and take on a beauty. Back to my circle thought. As I viewed this as something wrong and in need of changing I was always in a state of frustration. I saw that as something that was hindering me from being the best me that I could be instead of realizing it was there to help me become just that. My pattern as I now see it is my sphere of influence... its part of my purpose... my destiny... however you think of it. It's where I have a measure of authority, understanding, and influence. I find that as I have embraced this perspective I notice that I have aligned myself with others that are older and wiser than myself that move in a similar pattern and they have become a life coach to me. I also realize that others have done this with me. So I realize a truth about life... I am always a student and a teacher at the same time.
So how does all this help with that frustration? As I look at the whole instead of the immediate then I see that my frustration has always been about my growth. It's what brings me to a place of new and deeper understanding of an aspect of the circle or sphere of my life and the journey I'm on. I also see another aspect to this... that I am in the near future going to be able to help someone else get through a similar spot of frustration because I've walked there before and I can see the terrain with eyes of hindsight instead of foresight. I also know and realize the people in my life that are able to give me the same help and I embrace that fact. In fact I search for those people. We've all heard the saying, "hindsight is 20/20." I don't know if its that good but it does enable us to see more clearly. So as I find myself in that place of frustration again and again I can have peace in that because I am going to grow through it and be a better me than I was which is what this journey of life is about. Growing up... maturing. Church lingo aside... its the natural pattern of life in all things. I don't have to see this frustration as a destination or a place that I'll always be in because its not about the destination of it, but rather the step it becomes to allow me to go higher than I've ever gone before.
We love the views from the mountain top. I know this by my own experience and I also work on a mountain that overlooks a valley with Petit Jean Mountian as a back drop. One hundred percent of the people that come there love that view! There has never been an exception to that. This one is an easy one to get to because it requires very little personal work to get there. You can drive a car to the front of the lodge and walk out on the back deck and there it is. If people had to climb that mountain the number that get to enjoy that view would greatly diminish because of the effort required to attain the reward. I see here a great analogy to the frustration in my life. I really want to see the view from a higher place but I really don't want to have to work to get there. Too bad! If I want the treasure I have to dig for it. I have to make the investment or the reward doesn't mean as much to me. When I embrace the frustration I am feeling and determine that I'll put forth the effort to make the change in my life its pushing me towards then I not only achieve the vista but I enjoy it more and am able to guide others there in the future. It becomes mine... I have owned that experience and will always be able to draw from it as a reminder to myself and a help to others. That's what this whole thing is about anyway... being the best me I can be and helping others in their journey to the same.
I encourage you to embrace the times of frustration and shift your perspective to see it as a time of growth rather than something that's going to crush you.
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