A few years ago, I ached in the midst of a very painful life situation. I tried so many avenues to make change with no success. Then I mostly gave up. I continued to do what I could, but I stopped trying to do what I could not do. When I gave up, others stepped in. I was sad that the others didn't include me, but my life improved because I stopped trying to do what I could not do. That created space in my life to engage in more satisfying endeavor. The same thing happened to me in my professional career, when I gave up on an area of school life that I could not impact, I gained time and energy to engage in some very positive professional activities.
As I write this, I realize that sometimes we do travel down paths that are unsuccessful for us, and the only recourse is to part ways with those paths to embark on new, more successful paths in life. Also as I write, I see that a goal is to recognize bad paths in life sooner than later because if we sustain bad paths, our lives just get worse.
These questions emerge:
- What life paths do you travel that are positive--these are paths where you can positively contribute, and paths that make you and others feel good and succeed?
- What life paths are seemingly dead ends--paths that leave you wanting, upset, hurt, or troubled--those are likely paths you should eradicate?
- How can you create and recognize positive paths sooner than later?
