The Prize Is in the Pain – Embrace Your New Future

Like me, you’re probably asking “what’s the purpose behind this crazy coronavirus experience?  People say good things can come out of bad, but what good can come out of THIS?”.  Read on, this post will provide you with some encouragement.

We’ve all lost something to this pandemic, and when we lose something important to us, we feel pain and loss.  

Throughout our lives we experience setbacks, and we question what our future will look like.

Yes, the future will be different, but we don’t know how different or in what way.

Recently I’ve done a lot of hand wringing.  I’ve said a lot of prayers.  I’ve talked to a lot of smart people.  And I realized something that’s given me hope.  Something that’s changed my attitude for the better.  Here it is:

The future is only scary if I look at it through the lens of my past.  

Yes, before the pandemic I had it good.  I was comfortable.  

But now, despite the challenges and difficulties, I find myself asking, “why can’t my life be better than what it was before?”

Just because my life was turned upside down, doesn’t mean that my future will be worse off.

What if I choose to look at this challenge, this major disruption in my life,  through the lens of opportunity?  

After all, I’m learning quite a lot.  I’m pursuing new approaches to my business.  I’m developing deeper personal relationships.  I’m building spiritual fortitude.  And I’m taking on new struggles and I’m WINNING.

We know that enduring hardships and challenges  builds character and perseverance.  But we’d prefer to jump straight to the result and not endure the difficulties.  Unfortunately, that’s not the way life works. 

It wasn’t long after I started to think this way that I heard Elizabeth Gilbert give a TED interview while holed-up in her New Jersey apartment.  She said something that inspired me:  

“Don’t be in such a hurry to rush away from an experience that could actually transform your life.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

Wow.  “TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE.”

That’s no small challenge, that takes overcoming a set-back to a whole new level!  

Lose the past, gain the future

If I told you that you could be something bigger than you are today, but it would cost you dearly, what would you say?

If I asked you to lose something dear to you so that you could gain something much more valuable, what would you do?

In both instances, the precursor to the gain is the pain.

And that’s my second realization – the prize is in the pain, it’s where you change.  It’s where you grow.  It’s what gives birth to new life, to new beginnings.

Don’t get me wrong.  This isn’t a destructive pain that’s inflicted upon you by another person.

This is the pain that gives. The pain that improves. The pain that provides something that wasn’t there before.

So, are you embracing this moment to develop into something more, something bigger than you were before?

Recently my spiritual coach shared this pearl of wisdom: 

“There is no growth without change, there is no change without loss, there is no loss without pain…” – Rick Warren

There it is, all together in one sentence:  Growth.  Change.  Loss.  Pain.

You see, we all want the growth but without the change and the loss and the pain.

Change makes us uncomfortable.  Dr Shannon Irvine, a neuropsychologist that helps entrepreneurs break through their mental barriers, emphasizes that the  brain is made to avoid change.  To avert risk.  To escape loss.  After all, one of the main purposes of our brain is to keep us safe, to keep us secure.

So I get that it’s easy to hunker down, and, as Elizabeth Gilbert says, “to run away” from what makes us afraid.  But shouldn’t we be more interested in using this time to position ourselves for what’s next?  Because what comes next, will certainly be different than what was here before.  And if we’re not taking the time to prepare ourselves for the next chapter, we may end up going backwards instead of forwards.

“Sensible people will see trouble coming and avoid it, but an unthinking person will walk right into it and regret it later.” Prov 27:12 GNT

So my hope for you today is that you look at the challenge that’s in front of you, not through the lens of your past, but the lens of a transformed life.  Don’t get caught up in what you’ve lost, but instead run with hope towards a future that is bigger and better than the past you’ve left behind.

Be Wise & Successful…

1. Choose to learn something new that can transform your future.

2. Choose to believe that your discomfort is a temporary trial.

3. Choose to focus on a new set of goals that can change your life.

4. Choose to stretch your character at the expense of your comfort.