Many people compare life to building blocks.
Life can indeed be seen as a continuous journey of accumulating experiences, skills, and meaningful relationships, with each element contributing significantly to the overall structure of who we are. Individual choices, challenges faced, and successes achieved all play an essential role in shaping a person's life and the path they ultimately take.
Each individual block serves as a unique representation of a distinct event, meaningful experience, or significant choice that collectively contributes to the overall intricate building of a person's life story.
No matter the varying dimensions of these blocks, make them fit into the structure harmoniously. If one inadvertently falls down, do not be discouraged; simply rebuild it with care and patience.
Should a block not fit seamlessly into the overall design, consider replacing it with one that aligns perfectly, ensuring both the stability and beauty of your life’s masterpiece. Some blocks will inevitably crumble and gradually disperse into fine dust, flowing away softly, but don’t allow yourself to get discouraged by this inevitability. It was never meant to be. As my dad often used to say, “It is what it is,” and we must find the strength to move on gracefully.
Make sure that the base of your stack is strong and can support a stable structure. Many different elements will inevitably try to knock your carefully arranged stack of blocks down, so let them attempt it. You can always take the time to put the blocks back in place. Sometimes, they may not return to their original positions as they were initially arranged, but they still possess the ability to be stacked upright once again with a little effort.
If a block is weak or has become useless in your life, much like a challenging life lesson, simply build around it to seal it into a shelf, similar to how your body does with a foreign object to protect itself from infection and maintain overall well-being.
If we allow it to truly bother us when a block falls, then it becomes our responsibility to either replace it or find a way to effectively fix it. If we choose to dwell on the issue, it inevitably becomes our problem to grapple with. If something doesn’t fit into our plans or our lives, it is far better to simply move on rather than letting it weigh us down.
Our blocks can be many different colors, shapes, and sizes, each representing various experiences in our lives. We continuously learn from all of them. I often wish I could simply remove some of these blocks and have them disappear entirely, just like the ones that disintegrated and faded away, but sometimes, we find that we cannot. Instead, we learn to live with them as part of our journey. It could be a friendship that ended, a relationship that fell apart, or the profound weight of a loss. Ultimately, we glean valuable lessons from those blocks that remain in our stack, shaping who we are today.
Life is undeniably short, and if we continually struggle to fix our precarious tower of blocks, that's essentially all we ever accomplish. We become so engrossed in the minutiae, losing sight of the bigger picture, that we never take the time to see the top view. Instead, we find ourselves stuck, tirelessly trying to adjust every block in an attempt to make it fit perfectly, without realizing that sometimes it's okay to step back and reassess our approach.
At the end of the day, it’s your unique stack of blocks, so take the time to find a way to make it all come together and balance beautifully. Don’t let anyone tell you how it should look or dictate your creativity; after all, it’s your stack of blocks that truly matters.
Heather Fryer