If your hairdryer is anything like mine, the cord is constantly getting stuck on corners, drawer knobs and every other object it can possibly get hung on. What’s worse is now the cord has all the familiar “bends” in it, which ensures it will get stuck in all those same places. 

 

One way to fight this would be to straighten the cord out so that the memory of where it gets hung is forgotten, temporarily. A better solution is to keep the cord from dangling near the things that so easily trip it up. I could create a new, less obstacle-filled path for the cord to follow.

 

I’ve wanted to write about this metaphor a few times before, but I’m usually doing my hair when I see it and the thought goes away before I can write it down. I finally made it past the hair spray this time to put it in writing.

 

We have to ask ourselves, what are the things that trip us up, over and over? Are we tired of them yet? Are we attempting to straighten things out the easy, temporary way, but not really ridding ourselves of the obstacles?

 

If we keep doing the same things, we’re going to keep getting the same results. If we want something different, we have to do something different.

 

But we actually need to get stuck. I’m not sure about you, but I have to “trip” several times over the same things, or in the same areas, before I’m so sick of them that I have the motivation and energy to do something different. 

 

There really are no mistakes in life, just lessons. Some are sweet and some are bitter; all are necessary and valuable. 

 

If we (or someone we love) keeps going down a path that trips us up, we mustn’t despair. That’s part of the lesson to prepare us for something better. That’s the journey. One day, we will have had enough, we'll have learned that lesson and we will be motivated to create a new path.

 

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” Pema Chödrön

 

The first step is to recognize what’s happening. Notice the patterns. Acknowledge the places where we trip. See the “bends” that pre-wire us to fall again and again. We may try to take the same paths after attempting to smooth out the bends. It will help us avoid them again, for a little while anyway. 

 

Our bodies always follow our minds. If we allow our minds to focus on where we get hung up (the people, the places, the things we really don’t want to do), eventually our bodies will follow.

 

If we’re going to head down a familiar dead end, let’s have the courage to do it intentionally. To be honest with ourselves and say, “I know this is what I’m doing and where it will lead. And this is what I’m choosing anyway … again.” We can pray for the willingness to be willing to make a different choice next time, but we won’t kid ourselves any longer about what we’re doing.

 

Even if we’ve attempted the temporary solutions and things go smoothly for a little while, pretty soon we’ll create the same old ruts that hang us up and we’re back where we started—frustrated. But we’ll have the added awareness of why we are so susceptible to getting stuck in all the same ways.

 

Each one of those times is necessary to lead us to our tipping point for that situation. One day we will scream, “Enough!” And we will rearrange our lives to avoid those same pitfalls and hang-ups.

 

I’m pretty sure this pattern of growth happens in all areas of our lives, and runs in cycles. It’s how we evolve. Just because we figure out the kinks in one area and we fix that path, it doesn’t mean our new path won’t eventually lead us to different places to get tripped up. 

 

An airplane is off course over 90% of the time. One of the biggest lessons a pilot must learn is how to get back on course, because getting off course is inevitable during every flight. With frequent analysis and course correction, an airplane gets where it needs to go. We do too, as long as we’re paying attention and being honest with ourselves. 

 

This week’s meditation may find you taking a new path in one area of life, while still getting hung up in two others. That’s ok, it’s all part of your soul’s evolution. It’s your own path of perfect timing. And you’re not alone. We are all being presented with lessons, always.

 

Pay attention. Acknowledge the truth. Adjust what you can. Keep going. Keep growing. I believe in you. I believe in me. Refining (re-finding) ourselves is a worthy pursuit.

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