“A lesson will keep repeating itself until it is learned. Life first will send the lesson to you in the size of a pebble; if you ignore the pebble, then life will send you a brick; if you ignore the brick, life will send you a brick wall; if you ignore the brick wall, life will send you a demolition truck.”

-Oprah

It has been nearly 13 years since Oprah shared this lesson with her viewers, and still I know there are lessons that are waiting to see if I truly have learned what they have been desperately, yet patiently, trying to teach me.

There are many lenses with which to look through as we observe life while we are living it.  We can look at struggles, challenges and times when things aren’t going as planned as deterrents that stop us in our tracks, or we can choose to see opportunity for personal growth.  Choosing the latter path isn’t always easy because when we make it, it isn’t necessarily observable by those around us. However, if we choose to live life to discover contentment within ourselves and not to gain outside approval, then surprisingly our lives become richer. Richer in the sense that we aren’t wasting time looking for cheerleaders for doing something correctly that one might expect from a mature adult, and therefore, we can focus on higher level and more enjoyable ventures.

If you’ve been reading The Simply Luxurious Life for awhile, you may remember when I mentioned the above quote in 2010. There are a handful of quotes that stick in my mind at all times, and this is one of them. Keeping this piece of advice in mind should act as a reminder to learn the lesson the first time so you are able to move on and remove the possibility of being stuck in a cycle.

The one thing I have learned is that based on how the quote is read, we assume that the lesson itself, if repeated, will continually come in a more observable and imposing state, but that is not necessarily true.  Often times, what is intensified is what you have to lose if you ignorantly choose to not learn the lesson. Choosing to not absorb the lesson could me the loss of a more prominent position at your place of work or the faltering a relationship that has more potential than you’ve ever seen before.  Whatever the case, choose wisely and learn the lesson the first time or at least the next time it presents itself so that the greener pastures in life can materialize and share with us all what they have to offer.

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