One of the books I’ve been reading made an interesting point when it suggested that when a person is truely aligned with the values of his/her life this allows him/her to take the path of least resistance and avoid unnecessary suffering.
I find this to be a remarkably simple, but true principle. The more a person deviates from his/her calling, the more miserable s/he becomes. I’ve been that person and I’ve seen it in many people.
One benefit of life coaching, for me, is that it’s had me asking tough questions to myself that has helped me start recognizing who I want show up as and in the specific contexts I want to show up in. I’ve had to ask myself what my values really are and whether I’ve really lived true to those values or wandered on a path with more resistance than I wanted.
When you live your life aligned to your values you will decrease the amount of suffering you encounter. the reason is simple. You have mindfully chosen to recognize what is important to you and how to go about manifesting it. You are choosing to be true to yourself. when you do that the challenges decrease. they don’t go away, but they do decrease. In fact, you only encoutner as much suffering as you need to encounter. Sound odd? Perhaps, but consider a situation in your life where you’ve encountered difficulties. Once you learned how to get around those difficulties, the suffering stopped. You learned what you needed to learn to deal with the situation.
Now imagine living your life according to YOUR values, where you listened to your innermost self and pursued those goals and dreams in your imagination that are essential to you. I’m willing to bet that you’d encounter the path of least resistance, a path where you lived a life of luminosity, where you were at ease with how you handled situations, even if the situations weren’t easy in and of themselves.
What will it take you to live a life aligned to your values? And what will be thei mpact of living that life?
Good questions to ask…but also if I could live a life where I was on the path of least resistance, how would that feel to you?
December 30, 2007 at 4:22 am |
I’d say this is spot on – when you know where you fit, then things are automatically easier – you see the options and know how to take them, you know how you relate. You’re not an atomistic, disconnected individual, you’re part of the system.
April 15, 2009 at 4:57 pm |
I read your blog for a long time and must tell that your articles are always valuable to readers.
June 20, 2009 at 5:00 am |
Not sure about taking the path of least resistance. Frost said, “I took the road less traveled and that had made all the difference” The road less traveled may not be the easiest path yet it may be the most rewarding in the end. You may encounter the least number of hurdles in the path of least resistance but your experience also may be less rewarding as well. Granted, it is always prudent to avoid needless suffering. But remember the Risk and Reward principle as well.