David B. Bohl
Life Coach • Lifestyle Designer • Author
Be Quick, But Don’t Hurry” — John Wooden
866-538-3226

Life Is Difficult and _________.

By David B. Bohl | February 11, 2008 | 2 Responses

According to Dr. Peck, Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled, life is difficult. He’s not saying it’s difficult because of something or situations and circumstances he’s simply saying life is difficult. What do you think? Read my comments on the subject and leave your comments.

M. Scott Peck’s book The Road Less Traveled was very successful, selling steadily for year after year. Many people loved the book, many hated it but read the whole thing anyway. Most loved it.

But I wonder how many of us really accept Dr. Peck’s premise, “Life is difficult.” As Dr. Peck said, basically that’s the thing. Life is difficult. Not “life is difficult because…” Not “life is difficult but…”

Life is difficult.

istock_000003162446xsmall.jpg

I think it’s ‘life is difficult and ________‘.

Life is difficult and life is great and life is fun and life is long and life is to be lived. Once you come to terms with the “difficult” part, then you have everything else in life to enjoy, thrive on, build around.

Okay, yes, life is difficult. But that’s good news, isn’t it? Because if life is difficult for me, I know that it’s not that “MY” life is difficult. You don’t have an easy life while I have a hard life. Life is difficult. That’s the definition of life. Difficult.

Given that life is difficult, I have a lot of options in front of me in terms of what I want to do with the life I’ve been given.

And since life is difficult, and I can’t get around that given, I can stop thinking about it and focus on everything else in life.

See, if life was only difficult sometimes, or only for me, or only in certain circumstances, I would have to put work in to make sure that life got less difficult. But since life is always difficult for everyone, that’s out of my control.

Some people do not understand, but having life’s difficulty out of my control is one of the best things that can happen to me.

If I know I can’t fix that, I can stop spending my energy on it. I can focus on things I can control.

  • Life is difficult, but I don’t have to work in a job I hate. I have control over whether I hate the job, or at least over whether I stay in the job. There are difficulties there, but I have the time and energy and ability to respond to those abilities.
  • Life may be difficult, but I can have friends and family who care about me, and I can care about them, and we can make each other’s lives more pleasant, if not less difficult, just by caring about each other.
  • Life is difficult, but I have plenty of time to do the things that allow me to enjoy and treasure my life, because it’s also long, in some ways, and short in others.

Life is difficult.

But wow! Think about all the other things life is besides difficult.

Isn’t life grand?

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Copyright 2008 David Bohl and SlowDownFast.com. All rights reserved.

About the Author:

Husband, father, friend, Life Coach and Lifestyle Designer David B. Bohl is the creator of Slow Down FAST at www.slowdownfast.com.

Sign up for his online newsletter, The Bohl Report: Free Work-Life Balance, Productivity and Happiness Tips today:


 

Categories: Self Improvement, Personal Development, Motivation, Slow Down Fast, Quotes, Shift, Attitude, Lifestyle, Life Strategies, Relationships, Distractions, Values, Management Attitudes, Knowing Yourself, Inspiration, Daily Living

Trackback URL for this post | Print This Post

Related Posts:

2 Responses to “Life Is Difficult and _________.”

  1. susanna Says:
    February 11th, 2008 at 7:02 am

    I watched a film yesterday called “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and would recommend it. It’s also in book format. A true story about a man, who at 42, had a massive stroke. The film was seen from the perspective of someone ‘locked-in’ to a completely paralysed body but completely mentally alert. Whilst not wanting to trivialise anyone’s difficulties, this seems to put every day life into perspective and also shows what can be accomplished through an enduring human spirit.

  2. Matt Says:
    February 11th, 2008 at 9:42 am

    I don’t know if I would agree that life is difficult in general; life has its difficult moments but we don’t live in a constant state of having those moments. I believe that for many people (myself included) life is as difficult as we choose to make it. When the difficult moments arise they get blown out of proportion and we struggle that much more as a result.

Comments

« I’m In Good Company Is Listening the Opposite of Talking? »


Action List

  1. Browse the website
  2. Subscribe to
    The Bohl Report

  3. Attend a Seminar
    Intensive Empowerment System Workshop
  4. Read the eBooks
  5. Get Personal Life Coaching with David Bohl
  6. Contact
    David B. Bohl

    Portrait of David B. Bohl
    AIM: reflectionscoach
    Yahoo!: reflectionscoach
    Skype: reflectionscoach
    LinkedIn, FaceBook, Flickr
    866-538-3226

Slow Down Fast, will never sell, barter, or rent your email address to any unauthorized third party. Period!
Read our entire privacy policy here.