In times of difficulty, it’s worth remembering that when life is pulling you backward, like a bow pulling back an arrow it’s preparing to launch you forward into something great. The challenge is to be non-resistant like an arrow that let’s itself be shot off into a stratosphere it can scarcely imagine.

When we conceive of our difficulties as the beginnings of something great, we come alive with imaginative possibility.

This is not to say that the journey will be easy. If our difficulties are great, the simple act of imagining that they may launch us forward can take everything we’ve got. And, when once we’ve accomplished that sisyphean feat, we will yet have before us the task of divining exactly what our difficulties are propelling us toward. The greatest challenge, of course, is that life may be shooting us to a place that we’re afraid of or just don’t want to go. And yet, the things we’re afraid of and do anyway are often the things that end up thrilling us most. I’ve certainly found this in my own life. In fact, this site, and the larger Revel In It cross-platform media and culture & lifestyle brand that we’re building towards, is what my past difficulties propelled me toward, and it’s easily the best thing I’ve ever done. And to think I never would have conceived of it — let alone done anything about it — if a whole series of difficulties, from health crises, to personal and professional disappointments, to serious financial challenges and setbacks, hadn’t kept me from the less authentic life I was striving for. I didn’t dare dream as big as my longings were, or as big as the truths I knew about myself — that is, until life pulled me back like an arrow…and shot me forth.

Tell us: What have your past difficulties propelled you towards? What are your difficulties propelling you towards now? 

IMAGE via La Dolce Vita

Tags: Hampton Sides, Hellhound On His Trail, La Dolce Vita, Quotes, Revel Wisdom