Learning Life’s Lessons
Excerpted from the book The Four Purposes of Life, by Dan Millman
Earth is a perfect school, and daily life is the classroom. This idea is hardly new, but what follows will help you appreciate the full value of your life experience. And once this central premise penetrates your psyche, you’ll stop seeking and start trusting — because you’ll confront a higher truth: You aren’t here on Earth merely to strive for success; you’re here to learn — and daily life is guaranteed to teach you all you need in order to grow, and evolve, and awaken to your higher purpose here.
You are evolving even now — and there is no way to fail as long as you continue to learn. Like a stone slowly polished by the river’s flow, we’re shaped over time by the currents of life. The Indian saint Ramakrishna once observed, “If you try to open a walnut when the shell is still green, it is nearly impossible. But when the walnut is ripe, it opens with just a tap.” The classroom of daily life serves your ripening process.
Some years ago I received a letter expressing a dilemma shared by many: “Since reading your first book I’ve had a growing interest in spiritual practice, but how can I find the time when I have a wife and three children and a full-time job?” I wrote back to remind the writer that his wife and children and work were his most important spiritual practices — because true practice is not separate from daily life but rather its very substance. As writer Adair Lara put it, “And some, like me, are just beginning to guess the powerful religion of ordinary life, a spirituality of freshly mopped floors and stacked dishes, and clothing blowing on the line.”
Daily life, and the journey it represents, will remain your master teacher. This book serves as a map to help orient you along the way and guide you through the school of this world.
Here are some reminders about how the process of learning works in the classroom of daily life:
Lessons repeat themselves until we learn them. Sometimes we hear a wake-up call but prefer to pull the covers over our heads so we can slumber and dream a little longer. We may ignore, resist, rationalize, or deny reality for a considerable time. That’s okay — our schooling is entirely self-paced, but the lessons keep coming until our actions change.
If we don’t learn the easier lessons, they get harder. Resistance to learning (or change) reaps more dramatic consequences over time — not to punish us but to get our attention. As Anaïs Nin wrote, “There came a time when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
We learn and grow through challenges, and every adversity has hidden gifts. We’ve all experienced physical, mental, and emotional pain. Yet each challenge has brought a greater measure of strength, wisdom, and perspective. We may not welcome a challenge or embrace unexpected change, loss, or disappointment, but looking back, and over time, we come to appreciate the gifts of adversity.
Oh, please! you may think. I’ve heard all this before: “When God closes a door, God opens a window.” “Every cloud has a silver lining.” “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” But I will not spout platitudes or preach “positivity.” The fact is, pain and difficulty are no fun — I speak from my own experience.
Some years ago, when a motorcycle crash left me with a shattered thighbone, my recovery was difficult; it also changed the course of my life. I started asking bigger questions and opened to new paths that might have otherwise escaped my notice. And climbing out of that deep hole gave me the strength to scale inner mountains. I certainly don’t recommend fractures as a method of personal growth, yet I’ve learned to view every difficulty as a form of spiritual weight lifting — and we’re all in training.
Earth is a perfect school, and daily life is the classroom. This idea is hardly new, but what follows will help you appreciate the full value of your life experience. And once this central premise penetrates your psyche, you’ll stop seeking and start trusting — because you’ll confront a higher truth: You aren’t here on Earth merely to strive for success; you’re here to learn — and daily life is guaranteed to teach you all you need in order to grow, and evolve, and awaken to your higher purpose here.
Some years ago I received a letter expressing a dilemma shared by many: “Since reading your first book I’ve had a growing interest in spiritual practice, but how can I find the time when I have a wife and three children and a full-time job?” I wrote back to remind the writer that his wife and children and work were his most important spiritual practices — because true practice is not separate from daily life but rather its very substance. As writer Adair Lara put it, “And some, like me, are just beginning to guess the powerful religion of ordinary life, a spirituality of freshly mopped floors and stacked dishes, and clothing blowing on the line.”
Daily life, and the journey it represents, will remain your master teacher. This book serves as a map to help orient you along the way and guide you through the school of this world.
Here are some reminders about how the process of learning works in the classroom of daily life:
Lessons repeat themselves until we learn them. Sometimes we hear a wake-up call but prefer to pull the covers over our heads so we can slumber and dream a little longer. We may ignore, resist, rationalize, or deny reality for a considerable time. That’s okay — our schooling is entirely self-paced, but the lessons keep coming until our actions change.
If we don’t learn the easier lessons, they get harder. Resistance to learning (or change) reaps more dramatic consequences over time — not to punish us but to get our attention. As Anaïs Nin wrote, “There came a time when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
We learn and grow through challenges, and every adversity has hidden gifts. We’ve all experienced physical, mental, and emotional pain. Yet each challenge has brought a greater measure of strength, wisdom, and perspective. We may not welcome a challenge or embrace unexpected change, loss, or disappointment, but looking back, and over time, we come to appreciate the gifts of adversity.
Oh, please! you may think. I’ve heard all this before: “When God closes a door, God opens a window.” “Every cloud has a silver lining.” “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” But I will not spout platitudes or preach “positivity.” The fact is, pain and difficulty are no fun — I speak from my own experience.
Some years ago, when a motorcycle crash left me with a shattered thighbone, my recovery was difficult; it also changed the course of my life. I started asking bigger questions and opened to new paths that might have otherwise escaped my notice. And climbing out of that deep hole gave me the strength to scale inner mountains. I certainly don’t recommend fractures as a method of personal growth, yet I’ve learned to view every difficulty as a form of spiritual weight lifting — and we’re all in training.