I took this picture at one of my niece’s science fairs. It made me chuckle at the time, both for the honesty and for the truth that resonated with me.
Sometimes, I have this feeling about life. Problems come up (or pile up) with no discernable solutions in sight. My first approach is generally try to figure out a solution – “I must figure this out!” – and after beating my head against that metaphorical wall, I remember how that doesn’t work so well (and hurts). So I try something new, like getting quiet, meditating, asking different questions, remembering that I can ask for help.
I try these new approaches hoping for an instantaneous solution and then get all doubtful and frustrated with the lack of evidence that the new approach works, while noticing how the problems continue to pile up. And that leaves me with the thought, “I would very much like to choose a different project. This one has turned out to be not so awesome.”
But we don’t always get to choose our projects, do we? Sometimes, our projects choose us.
We still have choices, though. Just as in this science fair project, where the student chose to neatly and colorfully display the results and commentary, we get to choose how we will deal with it. We may not like it; we may still have to go through the steps we’d rather not go through. But we can do each step to the best of our ability and be honest with ourselves about what we’re feeling and why. So often we don’t want to feel those painful emotions, like disappointment, sadness, loneliness, frustration or anger, but I have learned through experience that feeling them, letting them flow through you, is the only way to get past them. And, they each are trying to give you information, if you’re ready to listen.
And I’ve found most importantly is asking, “What am I supposed to learn from this?” Because unless and until I learn the lesson, the situation will recur.