We have to remember that sometimes—often—there's a fundamental difference between what we want for ourselves and what the universe wants for us.
We want to feel successful about a ton of external stuff. Finding a great love, building a hot startup, completing a hard project, making a million dollars, writing a bestselling book, getting into grad school, landing the dream job.
The universe could care less about that stuff. It's just interested in who we are on the inside. How our hearts are growing, breaking, learning, repairing, building up again. Bigger. Stronger. Richer.
It's why sometimes things happen to us that don't fit into our plans. It's why we face adversity. It's why our choices come with consequences—sometimes expected, sometimes not.
We try to understand the circumstances we don't want and the missteps we took in the context of our little plans.
We take our gaze off the bigger plan.
It's not about the stuff we acquire or the money we earn. It's not about the weight we gain or shed. It's not about the love we found and lost. It's not about the company we started and failed at.
It's about our inner strength. It's about who we were, and who we are, and who we're meant to become.
On the inside.
Earlier today, I was thinking about why certain things are happening in my life. Why is this happening to me? How will I overcome this? How will I move forward?
As I thought about the things weighing most heavily on me, and how they don't fit neatly into my goals or plans, I went outside.
And it started to rain. I mean, pouring rain. Can't see more than a few feet in front of you kind of rain.
It somehow felt completely perfect. Like a serendipitous sign at exactly the right time.
It felt like God's way of reminding me that I'm assessing my life in relation to my small plans. Not to the Universe's big one.
When I reassess what's been weighing on me through the lens of how it's meant to shape me on the inside, it makes complete sense. All of it.
I need the adversity. I need the heartbreak. I need the unexpected.
We all do, don't we?
We need to be wildly thrown off course in order to learn how to adventure our way back.
We need to breakdown to build up—we can't build a big castle on top of a small house.
We need the stunning failures. They force us to rebuild. And it is in the rebuilding that we discover we can overcome and accomplish anything.
We need to feel heartbroken. The rush of overwhelming emotion that comes with it is a reminder that we're alive; that it's a blessing to feel anything at all.
We need to lose people we love so we know what's worth holding on to.
The things we think are curses are often our greatest blessings. They teach us the most. They shape us the most.
It's not about running inside and hiding from the downpour. It's about embracing the feeling of raindrops as they kiss your skin.
It's about embracing the hardships that are kissing your life.
Hearts still beat when they break.
Are you focusing on the breaking...or the beating?
Focus on the beating.
...Always focus on the beating.
