-- Anne Lamott
Petty annoyances are just that -- petty. Best to deal with them quickly, streamline your life to minimize them, or just outright avoid them. Great dilemmas, however, are to be explored, savored and appreciated because at their core lies grace and transformation.
So much of the time we spend our lives ignoring or hiding from our great dilemmas, pretending that they don't exist. "How you doing?" we're asked. "Fine," is our knee jerk reply. We never say, "I'm stuck on the horns of a great dilemma!" That would be weird. And while saying it to a casual acquaintance might be a social faux pas, acknowledging it to ourself is the first step towards growth and transcendence.
Some great dilemmas involve relationships, some involve vocation or calling, some revolve around aging, change or death, all are rooted in the self. The great dilemma is the worthy adversary, the competition that provokes excellence, the opportunity disguised as a giant pain in the ass. We need to move beyond judgement to engagement if we want to use dilemmas as crucibles for growth.
Take a look at your life. What is the numero uno dilemma that you currently face? Jump into it. Wrestle with it, observe it, deconstruct it. embrace it. Use it. Use it for the insight it brings, use it to build your problem solving muscles, use it as a springboard for growth.
And be thankful. Life gives you challenge to incite triumph. Growth without end. Amen.
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