Sometimes, Life Is Hard

It's hard to bring the same enthusiasm and energy to work you know you're over-qualified to do.

And today, many of us are in that very situation.

If Radio hasn't locked you out, you've been relegated to the room saved for those who cannot think, cannot question, cannot contribute, cannot advance...

Your pay has been cut, bonuses reduced or gone altogether, benefits diminished...

Like Henry Ford's original Model A industrial line, you have specific tasks that must be done precisely as directed, within a specific amount of time, with the constant implied threat that hundreds are eager for your job if you aren't.

How do you cope?

Should you be patient, hoping for a miracle?

Should you walk away from the work you have felt uniquely called to do because you think there is no longer a need for what you do?

First, know this: you're not alone.

And the answer for each of us may be different, so you need to quiet the little voice inside your head that says "you can't": You can't be happy doing anything else. You can't earn the money you need if you start over. You can't be respected if you do that rather than this.

Shut it off, and listen instead to your heart.

I don't know about you, but my life only makes sense when I take the time to look backwards. Only then do the dots connect. Only then does all the randomness of what became a career seem part of a greater plan, as if I was following a GPS I never saw.

And when I try to look forward, all I ever see is fear. Not enough. Too old. Unqualified. Unhappiness.

Recently, someone I don't really know took the trouble to thank me for writing The Struggle, which was posted over six years ago. He'd found it in my archives.

He wrote to say his life is hard right now and those words had brought him a sense of peace and comfort.

What he probably didn't understand was the impact his words would have on me.

We all need encouragement. We all need affirmation.

So if life is treating you pretty well today, reach out and find words to encourage someone you know, whether you think they need it or not.

Perhaps, today, you are right where you are meant to be in order to provide hope and encouragement to someone you don't even know.

That's how grace works.

Maybe that's how we're supposed to act when life gets hard.

The only way you'll ever know is looking back in a few years to see how the dots connected...