Things Are Not “Should Be.” Things “Are.”
by Ari Koinuma on Dec.29, 2009, under Ari's Diary, Lessons of Life, Our Best Version, The Joy of Being on the Way
Today I felt frustrated. Frustration comes when things are not what they Should Be. I feel indignant because of that gap between Should Be and Are.
Then I had to stop. Things Are the way they Are for a reason. One of those reasons is that the present situation is an Opportunity to Learn a Lesson I Have Not Learned Yet.
Think about it. If you had figured out how to solve a problem, then you will not have that problem any more. The situation will not contain that problem, because you can solve it even if it comes up — and chances are, you’re probably even preventing it from coming up.
For example, when I first came to US I had a communication problem. People could not understand my odd and accented English, and I couldn’t understand slang-filled American English. But now I’ve been here 17 years. I don’t have that problem any more.
The problems I do have are the ones I haven’t figured out yet. And they just stay in my reality, waiting for me to figure them out. I try one solution after another, and they keep coming back, because I really haven’t nailed yet. Stuff like cleanliness and organization, I still struggle with. So I keep finding myself in messes, most of which, I create myself.
Life just doesn’t give up on me. It patiently waits and repeats itself, until I really figure it out for good. It’s up to me to interpret that as either frustrating, or thankful. Thankful for the Nth chances it gives me.
Things aren’t what they should be, for a good reason. Thanks for giving me another try.
