How Hard Do You Make It?

Unless you're among the few who grew up in that rare, encouraging environment where anything was possible (and your parents told you so!), you've more than likely heard, instead, things like "life is hard" and "nothing comes easily in this world" and "if you want something, you have to work hard for it". So many little seeds planted to make us believe that life, indeed, is H-A-R-D.

Do you think it's hard for a tree to grow? Or a flower to blossom? Or the sun to rise? Do you think there is even the remotest effort for these things to 'happen'? I'm pretty sure there's nothing to it. As in...no effort required. Trees grow, flowers blossom, rain falls, the sun warms, the earth moves around it, all without 'trying'. It just happens, right?

So how come we still think that life is hard? How come we bought that whole package...about having to work hard to achieve or having to face a life of hardship in order to find some kind of peace? We bought that stuff hook, line and sinker without ever giving it a second thought...and now...we're living it. Such a shame.

What if none of it is hard? What if the only reason it appears that way is because we think it's so. What if (oh my dog!!!....) everything is really supposed to be EASY? If we were to approach everything we do with an attitude of "piece of cake", do you suppose it would change the way our lives work? If you decided to get up in the morning and before you ever step a toe out of bed, you said aloud, "today is going to be the most wonderful, easy, splendid day of my life." And then...with that seed planted, you got your rested self out of bed and got on with it. Do you think something so simple could actually affect change in your life?

I pose these questions to you now because I've been hearing this phrase a whole lot lately. Primarily from someone who is near and dear to me; someone who's spent the better part of the past two years 'working' on herself. As she did, she spent a great deal of time in solitude, and got in the habit of meditating daily, reading and listening to things that inspired her, and, most importantly, letting go of old, limiting beliefs. Or so we thought.

Recently she took a job back in the field of sales. Big ticket sales, like home remodels and such. The bigger the ticket, the higher the 'pressure'. So it is in the world of sales. Now that she's decided to forgo her passion (to write and speak in the name of the elderly), she's right back to where she started. She's stressed out and tired all the time and ignoring her Self, all in the name of making lots of money. Worst part? Every time we speak, all she ever says, over and over, is "it's so hard".

To say this frustrates me is an understatement. Yes, I know it's not my job to live her life for her. I also know that she's choosing these thoughts and living them every day because that's just where she is. Again. The 'frustrating' part for me is that she just doesn't see it. At ALL! It's as if those two years never happened. It's as if all the things she 'figured out' and put into practice to make her life more joyful have been tossed to the winds, with nary a whisper of their messages remaining. How can this be?

It saddens me when I witness such things. It makes me want to grab her by the shoulders and shake her til all the crap stuffed in her head comes flyin' out of her ears. It makes me want to wrap her in my arms and tell her the secret she already knows. Alas, I can do none of those things. It's not up to me. It's up to her...to choose and then live those choices.

Still I wonder, why do we make it so hard?