A Country Song About Lessons Learned
It has been said by the great ‘life gurus’ that we are precisely where we are because that’s where we’re supposed to be.
Lessons Learned by Carrie Underwood is a song about self-discovery: We all have regrets we wish we could undo in our life, and yet, without our mistakes, without those ‘wrong’ choices … would we have learned?
Would you be who you are today without the journey you’ve taken?
I think about my own life and wonder, had I not traveled this path, including good choices and bad, would I be who I am today? Was it necessary for me to take this trip? Was it the direct hit my soul needed to experience to graduate to another ‘level of knowingness’?
Thinking carefully about these questions, I have to say honestly, I probably needed this trip to get to where I’m going. Or, maybe this trip was necessary to help others find their way?
My sons often hear me saying to them, ‘You can take the easy road in life or the hard road,’ …but you don’t HAVE to take the hard road! Personally, my path hasn’t been that easy, but when I think about where I am now emotionally and spiritually, both nicely mixed with a ton of tenacity, would I still possess this growth had I not traveled this challenging path? As the lyrics say, “When life gets that much harder, it makes you that much stronger.”
So, of course, that question leads to another question: Is our journey preordained, or is it, as Forrest Gump said, ‘I don’t know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all floating around accidental-like on a breeze. But I, I think maybe it’s both.‘ It sounds like Forrest has a point there.
Most people I know, online and offline, have had their fair share of struggles. That’s the common denominator. It hasn’t been ‘Easy’ for many. So, what are we to take from this?
Personal Thoughts
Life is better when I focus on those in my life who need extra love, extra care, an extra hug, or just an ear. I’m usually off track when I start to overthink what I need. I believe that to get where we’re going; we must help others get to where they’re going without losing ourselves.
Although it sounds like a cliche, sometimes the simplest solutions are the right solutions ….compassion … especially when someone in our life may not have earned that compassion. As Martina McBride said in her hit song ‘We Do It Anyway. The kicker is that it has nothing to do with earning brownie points for ourselves; it’s about being, doing what we can for others when we can, and remembering to respect ourselves. It’s so simple, yet so hard.
This blog post has been Digiproved © 2014-2017 Barbara (Tremblay) Cipak
