Every new parent knows: babies don’t come with instructions. We know the rules, we know the expected outcome; what we struggle with is the everyday “how tos”. Sure, we can get advice from friends with children, or our own parents, or Dr. Sears… but ultimately we just have to forge ahead and rely on our instincts and our humanity to get us through. To raise our child.
In many respects, managing our own lives isn’t much different. The rules are easy – society has already written them for us. But you can read every self-help book that has ever been published, and still none will serve as a manual for “How To Live Your Life”.
Acknowledging this helps us remember that, from the time we are born, one aspect of our purpose on this Earth is to learn and grow through observation and experience of the world around us. Life is an active, ongoing process – at times joyful, at times tedious, at times overwhelming. Yet it is the details in these qualities that lead each of us to explore who we are, and thereby discover our own how tos. Along the journey, as you encounter life’s various lessons, you are inevitably led toward discovery of your Self, and you grow into your own fullness. Your promise is fulfilled in the embracing of these lessons, and with that you write your own instructions.
As you progress down the path you have chosen, it is gratifying to look ahead with the knowledge that, although the society in which you live may have laid out the rules, you are living your life entirely by your own book.
~ Christiana
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The Words of Wisdom? is a publication of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Gwinnett.
