I wish we all had a more seamless life.
A safer life to look forward to.
We could all win the lottery and spend our Christmases together in Switzerland.
We would all be healthy and wise, and fly our private planes to Lake Tahoe for the weekend, like bored billionaires.
But that’s not how it works, is it?
Some of us will die young, struggle with illness, hold on to addictions, or spend too many years unemployed.
People will disappoint us, and you might even find your career underwhelming.
Just remember that comfort is not the point of life.
Character transformation is the point.
I don’t know why life isn’t constructed to be seamless and safe, why we make such glaring mistakes, things fall so short of our expectations, and our hearts get broken and our kids do scary things and our parents get old and don’t always remember to put pants on before they go out for a stroll. I don’t know why it’s not more like it is in the movies, why things don’t come out neatly and lessons can’t be learned when you’re in the mood for learning them, why love and grace often come in such motley packaging.
-Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies
Also published on Medium.
