#2026 Life is Difficult
"Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths.
It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it"
Those are the opening lines of M. Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled.
I hate to dwell on the difficult. I tend to wave it away like a bad smell.
But what if I'm sitting in the fetid mess that created the smell? Waving isn't enough.
Transcendence is what's needed.
One of my former coaching clients is having a rough time. He is awaiting a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. I love this man. He is and has always been a beacon of light. We speak every couple of weeks, and I hear transcendence in his words. I hear hope. I hear possibilities and gratitude that, despite its difficulties, dangers, and uncertainties, there is a treatment available. He knows the odds and is firmly attached to the positive side of that graph.
I'd bet that the positive side of that graph is dominated by those, like him, who believed a good outcome was possible.
Accepting pain and discomfort and then, as Dr. Peck says, transcending it is the essence of happiness. Happiness is not devoid of misery; it absorbs it like the ground absorbs the assaults of winter, only to bloom again in the spring.
A Rabbi I met over forty years ago told me a story I will share with you now.
Hundreds of years ago, a new Rabbi in a small community was beset upon with grievances from his community. It seemed he could hardly turn a corner without one of his congregants stopping him to complain about some malady or another and wonder why God had afflicted them so. After a few weeks of this, the Rabbi called for a meeting in the town square. He asked everyone to come to the meeting with chalk and a slate. When all were gathered, he instructed them to write down their worst problem and then to place the slate, face up, in the middle of the square. They all complied. He then had them get up, peruse the pile, and take the problem that best suited them. Each took back his own problem.
I'm grateful that at present, my problems are manageable. Sure, I get dark sometimes and lose perspective. We all have our moments, but when I think about my client and others who are carrying a larger load than I am, I can wave my hand and think, "This too shall pass."
Transcendence is acceptance, but not in a permanent way. It is the acceptance of knowing that my path is filled with obstacles. Some I slip easily around, some take some extra maneuvering, and some look like mountains, but none are affixed in front of me, permanently impeding my way.
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