It takes grit and guts to heal and find joy.
Medical advances have lengthened the amount of time people have on this planet, but longer does not always mean better. Quality of life and the value of our livelihood matter.
The Vietnamese Zen Buddhist spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh said, “No mud, no lotus.” Without suffering through the mud, you cannot find the happiness of the lotus.
Without grit, there is no pearl.
How we do life is just as important as what we do in life. We are highly trained safety seekers. What if the safety we seek keeps us from experiencing the zeal, the joy, and the friction of our gritty reality?
Too much safety can leave us floppy. It numbs our longings, and keeps us from rising to meet challenges and engage in good trouble. How do we blaze new trails if we always stay in the same lane? We cannot create and innovate if we are always seeking the limitations of safety.
The grit to look within is a big part of living fully.
It is easy to dismiss our trouble. But the trouble is where our lifeforce lives. Be tender with yourself as you work through your inner processes. But do have the guts to go there.
We can think of grit as lifeforce itself. Grit is the real granular stuff that isn’t smooth. These are rugged tiny particles that we hold between our toes as we wiggle around until they work themselves out of our in-between spaces. You simply cannot bulldoze this stuff.
Living fully takes grit. We have to be willing to see ourselves and the world more clearly. There is drama, pain, and lack of safety when we engage more fully. And yet, this is how we can transform life into a meaningful life well lived.
