Life is Like a Box of Rubik Cubes

We are about to enter the year 2020 – Wow!  This is truly an amazing accomplishment that for whatever reason we have been anointed to inhibit the earth in such a momentous time in history. Back in the 70’s I recall my great grandmother stating although she would not be there physically, how unbelievable it would be for me to live in the year 2000. She likely would be floored to even consider the year 2020.

Depending on when read, I thought I’d close the year or begin the new year writing about facing challenges and reexamining how we categorize life experiences. I was inspired today by one of the great lines of the movie, “Forest Gump.” As Forest sits on a park bench he shares how life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get; meaning life is unpredictable.

Well, that metaphor has evolved to Life is Like a Box of Rubik Cubes. I wanted to not only speak on unpredictability but working through one’s challenges and our natural or conditioned reactive state and categorizing the experience. By not solving a Rubik Cube doesn’t mean one can’t solve it, might the challenge be to groom us to solve the next one? Grant it solving one, means you do have the ability to do so, yet offers no guarantee you’ll solve the next.

Often I encounter individuals struggling to define purpose or waiting for a breakthrough. So many of us have the tendency to define who we are, why we’re here, why we make the decisions we make, etc. etc.  Then many venture wading into the treacherous waters of Assumption Lake. I have a tendency to adhere to the philosophy that living life is similar in trying to solve a Rubik’s cube. Yet I’m of the belief that the benefit in doing so is not solving it, but it attempting to do so. We’ll encounter multiple Rubik cubes in our lifetime, and some we’ll solve and some we won’t. Perhaps some might be unsolvable, and our success might be in the acceptance it’s not and that’s okay.

During a casual conversation, a student attending college shared after two years, decided to change majors. This person considered they had just wasted valuable time in their life for the majority of classes were not applicable toward the selective change. My commentary was advising this person to avoid the self-imposed tendencies of false labeling. I countered with the possibilities that the experience had yet to be defined, suppose it was to learn how to learn?

Our box (life) will always be filled with a variety of Rubik’s cubes and some will be designated to specifically address health, relationships, finances, beliefs, religion, family, etc. etc.

Each cube will have its own unique way to attempt to solve it.  Although one might wish to solve each the same way, I guarantee there’s no one way to solve all. Yet no effort is a failure; the failure is when one taps out (surrender) to fear in trying.

People work out and exercise for multiple reasons, the benefits are multiple, constant, and not measured or determined if one wins a competition. When I point this out to others, so often I hear the word “but” interjected in responses. In life, everyone is an explorer, adventurer, and pioneer traveling through this unique and exclusive experience. Some of our interactions are shared, however, for the most part, we travel through existence in a solitary capsule.  As we define our unique perspectives of satisfaction and happiness with our legacies shared by others to celebrate and acknowledge.

So forget the New Year resolutions, adhere to the acceptance with every breath we take we move forward one step at a time.  Wishing all my readers a prosperous, yet most importantly a Happy New Year!

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