I want to be happy. I want to be rich. I want to be in a relationship. I want to be single. I want a job that pays me lots of money. I want to live in a nice house.
They all sound good, don’t they? I mean, who wouldn’t want to be happy, rich, in a relationship or single, earning lots of money and living in a nice house?
The thing is, each of those desires can mean something different to everyone.
A nice house to me may look very different to a nice house to you. A lot of money to your neighbour may be 500 dollars and to you it might be one million dollars. To you, being in a relationship might mean being married, and to someone else, being in a relationship might mean having someone to go hiking with on weekends.
And what about the good old “I just want to be happy” statement that comes so automatically to all of us? What does that actually mean? Of course it’s natural to want to be happy. But happy can mean so many different things to so many different people.
The next part that is also as varied as people, is just how to go about creating that happiness, those finances, that relationship, etc.
As the Dalai Lama wisely says:
People take different roads seeking fulfilment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.
As a life coach, I can assure you that the journey each client is on as they pursue their dreams is different. What they want is different. Their challenges are different. The actions they need to take are different. Their timelines are different.
There is no ‘one size fits all’.
The point here is for you to walk the path that is right for you, the path that gets you to your destination. Someone else’s destination is not for you. Their path is not your path. And in the same way, your destination is not their destination. Your path is not the path they need to be on.
So, take care and notice if you are trying to get someone to believe what you believe, do what you do, make them go where you want them to go.
Allow people to pursue what makes them happy, and allow them to fulfill their own destiny.
Just because they aren’t following your path, it doesn’t mean they are lost.
