“The greatest gift we can receive is to not be scared of our own experience.”

– Syd Banks

Just the other day, Naia, my 1 1/2 year old daughter, strolled into my office while I was working.

She was so happy because she had a marker in her hand and a strong desire to use it.

Now, of course, my office wasn’t the place, nor was it an appropriate time, to play with the markers.

Mama caught wind of this and showed up to take Naia to her play-room where she could go to town and enjoy the full experience of drawing with that marker.

But Naia had no idea that this was happening.

She had no idea that Mama was taking her somewhere even better than where she was in that moment.

She threw a fit.

In her mind, she just thought Mama was taking her away from what she wanted to do.

Little did she know, just moments later, she was led to a place where she could enjoy drawing even more. Play more. And express more.

And it occurred to me in that moment…just how often this happens in all of our lives.

How often we find ourselves so set on how our enjoyment and happiness will occur for us…

Only to then have life take us to some unprecedented destination.

In the moment, we may feel fear, confusion, frustration and wondering why “things aren’t working out for us.”

We may cry, grieve, get angry… and throw a fit.

But moments later, it always happens: we find ourselves in a wondrous place, a place better than anything we could have imagined or planned ourselves.

The Key Lesson:

There is an intelligence behind life. This is the same intelligence that turns acorns into oak trees, orchestrates the seasons, and is beating your heart in this very moment. And if we trust and surrender ourselves to this intelligence, it will always take you where you really need to go and show you what you really need to see. Our fits are simply an act of misunderstanding. If you slow down enough to listen deeply…you will find yourself back in the flow where, not only will you be taken somewhere even better than you can imagine, but you can enjoy the ride as well.

With so much love,
Joshua