Is it ON the way or IN the way?

This week I’m away for a holiday on the sunny Gold Coast on Australia’s east coast and have had a chance to read more books than I normally have time for. One thing that came up in one for them (The Values Factor by Dr. John Demartini) talks about the interesting learning around things happening ON your way or the perception that things are IN your way.

Expat transitions and life transitions in general will inevitably include some challenges. Even if our logical mind knows this will inevitably happen, it’s often we wish that the challenges stayed away or got a bit smaller.

There are so many things you can do to manage challenges and boost your awareness of what is happening, what is likely to come next and when you can expect it (our online relocation program covers a lot of this for expats, regardless what country you are moving to and from).

So it got me thinking that regardless what type of challenge we face, it might be more about our mindset. Not just the awareness about the challenge happening, but how we see the challenge.

• If we see something as in the way it will likely cause frustration, interrupt our flow, take a lot of energy to manage as we’re trying to overcome it. Kind of like a big tree falling over the highway and blocking all traffic.
• If we instead see something as happening on the way we’ll automatically see it as a learning, an opportunity to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to something or find a detour around it.

The only constant thing in life is change, so I find it interesting that so many of us (myself included) try and fight it and push it away sometimes. Because change generates both pleasure and challenge. And we need both of these things to gain perspective and keep travelling. A life with only pleasure would not teach us anything. And a life with only challenge would break us.

I like the idea to see things from the on the way perspective, regardless if they are good or bad at the time. What about you?

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