You don't always need to choose the most difficult path.

At an earlier point in my life, I unknowingly glamorized the idea of struggle. This “no pain no gain” view assumed that all hardship and difficulty were equally valuable. “Personal and spiritual growth should not be easy,” I thought. I encouraged myself to “just push through.” I believed that deep insights and important change can only be realized through the difficult work of discipline, arduous practice, and painful self-inquiry. While it is true that pain is an inevitable part of life, I now realize that my ego was attached to this exaggerated notion of enduring hardship as the only way to grow. The most dangerous aspect of this way of thinking is that it actually perpetuates our unhappiness. Baked into this approach is the assumption of “never enoughness.” Yet, no amount of externally mediated experience will ever meet the gaping abyss of “never enough.” This assumption that I was broken and with enough hard work I could feel good about myself was a permanently downward spiral. No amount of spiritual practice, retreats, courses, degrees, books, therapy, or insights ever felt enough. For me, self-compassion is the primary way this spiral of unhappiness is disrupted. With self-compassion, I am growing to understand that my enoughness is not a function of any accomplishment, performance, or strategy. I am enough because I am me. You are enough because you are you. When it comes to your worth, there is nothing to earn or deserve—no hard work to do. The gift is freely given—it’s the gift of realizing your infinite worth has already been given to you. Weekend Wisdom is a weekly sharing from Copper Beech Institute’s founder, Dr. Brandon Nappi.