Is Life Supposed to Be Easy?

Maybe it’s just me, but lately I’ve noticed more teachers beginning to admit that life isn’t necessarily going to be easy once a person begins to walk the spiritual path. In fact, they are beginning to say, sometimes life gets more difficult. I’m glad this is happening because it’s the truth.

In one of her programs, spiritual teacher Caroline Myss says how dare we think we are the only person on the planet who is supposed to live a care-free life, never to have any troubles, always to have plenty of money, be totally loved and in the state of constant bliss. When you hear her say this, it is almost laughable.

Yet, much of what we hear in metaphysical circles says we can have it all, be rich beyond our wildest dreams, have the perfect mate living in the perfect house, drive our dream car and do our dream work. Of course, to do this we have to buy a particular program from someone or go to their $10,000 five-day retreat or become their affiliate or in some other way enable them to make their dreams come true from the inside of our pocketbooks.

What if we’re here to learn and grow and experience life with all its ups and downs?

What if being totally financially rich isn’t in our best soul-interest? And who determines what financially rich is?

What if we are to learn something by having a particular disease or stress in our life?

What if being fired from our job was exactly what had to happen so we could and would move forward to our next place in this world where we would excel in ways we didn’t think possible?

Interesting questions, no? I would never venture to say I have all of life figured out because I don’t. However, I have lived enough and observed enough to be able to share some of what seems to be true for me and works for me most of the time.

First, we’re not all the same and we’re not all here to have the same experiences. When people try to hold out promises that our lives can be just like their lives if only we do the things they have done, this may or may not be true for us. The only way to find out is to get in tune with our own life purpose, try the things that seem to make sense and adjust accordingly.

Having said this, the second point is that we also share a lot of similarities with other people. So, even though we might not be meant to have the same life experience someone else is having, it doesn’t hurt to listen to and watch other people because some of what they have to share might be true for us and could save us a lot of time and effort. Why reinvent the wheel?

Third, just because we’re walking a spiritual path doesn’t mean our lives will be light and love and rose petals all the time. Not having a rose petal moment doesn’t mean we’ve done anything wrong or bad. It just means we’re being given a chance to learn something new! The sooner we embrace such times as opportunities, the sooner we can take the learning and move on.

Fourth, the more effort we make toward living our lives in alignment with our soul purpose for being here, the easier (not necessarily easy) it will be to live our lives. When we are making such efforts, grace reaches out to us and pours blessings into our lives. Then our job is to be on the lookout for the grace, accept it, and live with it.

One of my favorite wishes for people is that they live a life of grace and ease. This is why I named my newsletter Living with Grace and Ease. What I mean by that is when we’re living from the soul level, we court grace that flows into our lives making everything move much more easily. Again, not easy but easier.

During this month when those of us who live in the United States traditionally celebrate the attitude of gratitude, spend some time being grateful for everything in your life – even the moments when you have stinkweed instead of rose petals. Most of the people reading this have much to be thankful for but tend to focus on places of lack and not-enoughness. If you aren’t expressing gratitude on a regular basis, the practice of keeping a gratitude journal would help you do this.

Write down everything you are grateful for on an ongoing basis. Be sure to include your challenges. They love to be loved. Be grateful for air, lungs that can breathe the air, your legs and feet, hands and arms, flowers and birds…..your list doesn’t have to include only the outstanding moments in your life. In fact, the more you can be grateful for what most people call the mundane, the more the extraordinary moments will come looking for you. I don’t know why it works this way; it just does.

Instead of looking at your life as something to be conquered so you can sit atop a mountain in your castle and watch the rest of the world struggle, look on life as an adventure, a journey to be savored. There really aren’t good times and bad times – there are just times to be experienced. When life is viewed that way, ups and downs become simply that: ups and downs. Then the struggles ease up and become events in our lives, neither bad nor good. Just times that are. Then life gets really interesting!

Living with grace and ease,

Krysta

Did you know I have written several books? You can view them on Amazon here.

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