When Striving Becomes Strife
Striving for a goal is a good thing, most of the time. Strife is conflict. Never a good thing. But what happens when striving causes strife?
That happened to me. It’s been going on for a while. I never realized it until I was asked a question a few days ago. The question was
“What are you striving for?”
The follow-up question was
“What would happen if you gave it up?”
To be honest, I don’t think the writer’s intention was how I applied it. It was more to do with having too much to do. Striving to lose weight. What would it be like if you gave it up? The end of the world? Can you go on with other things and give this up for now? I believe that was the intention.
For me, though it was the first answer that popped into my head that surprised me and has affected me in a profound way. The word was “acceptance”. I was striving for acceptance. The Sally Fields “You like me. You really like me.” Acceptance. The getting picked for the team acceptance. The being the new kid in school and having someone ask you to be their friend acceptance. I was striving for that. I have been for a long time. Among my peers. And then I asked myself what would happen if I gave it up?
Wow! I actually felt a weight fall from my shoulders.
I felt freer thinking it. We are funny creatures. We can know things. Think we are living our life the way we are supposed to. That we have grown-up. That we don’t care what other people think. And then reality hits. Yup. We do. Or at least I do. And it was weighing me down. I’d love to be the cool girl in school. But, you know what? I am only required to be me. Me. Divalicious! me. Unique me. When I am me – I honour my life. And isn’t that what this year is all about anyway? Yes, it is. My only job is to live my life. To it’s fullest. As best as I can with the tools and resources I have. It is to love and be kind. It is to give of myself. It is to use my talents to the best of my ability. It is to be persistent towards my goals. It is to keep growing as a person. I did that this week.
So, I will be me. Me. Divalicious! Me. Unique me. Write my songs. Sing the way I do. Blog for the sake of blogging. Be kind. Do what I’m supposed to do. Honour my life. Yeah. 
I should go weigh myself, I’ve lost so much weight off of my shoulders. Have you ever felt this way? I'd love to hear from you. And if you like this post - feel free to share.
Now just for fun - have a listen to this favourite Samsung Galaxy Video - All About that Bass