A Complicated Delicious Mess

One night quite a while ago as Susanne and I left one of our favorite restaurants, I spotted this sign hanging in the window of a smoothie shop.

I told Susanne, they should call this one "The Life Smoothie."

Indeed, this is what life is.

It is messy, it is complicated and at the same time, it is beautiful and downright delicious.

Why? Because we are human.

At the time we saw that sign, Susanne and I were living all parts of mess, beauty, and deliciousness.

During this time in our lives, we experienced the joy of our youngest graduating high school. At the same time, we were broken-hearted over the loss of a friend and were walking with dear friends in the midst of a crisis in their own lives.

Simultaneously life was messy, complicated, joyful, and sad. 

I recall that living in those moments had put stress on our relationship and it was not the easiest of times for us . . . you could say that it was messy.  

But at the same time, as it often happens, it was beautiful and delicious.

Because of this time and the stress we both felt; we entered into some deep, intimate, and hard discussions about our marriage and relationship.

We shared openly about our assumptions, our hurts, our fears, and our stress. And what may have looked like a disaster of a week, ended with an incredible dinner date on a beautiful Colorado evening . . . both of us feeling closer and more bonded.

Life, no matter how you design it, will continue to be up and down, it will throw curveballs, it will be messy, complicated, beautiful, and delicious.

You cannot control what life will do, but you can control your perspective and your response to it and embrace the beautiful mess that it is.

This edition was first published in The Life Design Newsletter on LinkedIn.