Do You Long for an Easier Life?

Do You Long for an Easier Life?

Have you ever longed for an easier life?  Do you ever wish your life drifted lazily along like a canoe on a calm lake on a peaceful summer morning?  Or do you relish the challenges of life?  I would have immediately answered “an easier life, please!” until I bumped into the truth one morning last week.

We have a glass Sudoku game board with colorful glass pieces, and a book of 1000 puzzles ranging in difficulty from “easy” to “challenger”.  In the morning I set up a puzzle on the board on the kitchen table and we solve it as we’re enjoying our breakfast.  If we haven’t solved the puzzle before our tea is finished, we leave it there until the next meal.  Some puzzles have taken many meals to solve.

I was selecting a puzzle from the book one morning last week and I found myself choosing a “challenger” rather than a “hard” one, thinking, “Since it will be harder to place each piece, I will have a greater sense of triumph with each one.  The challenger puzzle will be more fun to do!

Wait!  What?  I was deliberately choosing a challenge?  I’ve always said I enjoy a challenge, but I’ve come to believe I like a challenge  in theory.  Sure, there have been times when I wished my life were easier.  Do you know what I mean?  Now I’m not so sure that an easier life is what I really want.  Maybe I do enjoy a challenge!

I think the key to accepting life’s challenges is embracing this as truth:

  • I can handle the challenging situations I face, or, barring that
  • I will figure out how to handle the challenging situations I face

This mindset makes everything different for me.  After all, I’m not alone in this.  You’re here too.

Do you ever wish you had an easier life or do you enjoy a challenge?  Do you think the challenging path is more rewarding?  If you could have it either way, which would you choose?

photo credit: Pierre Vignau

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About The Author


I have always loved writing and community building. I’ve written a book about healing and happiness, The Happy Place, as well as a Community Building book, Sounding the Drum: Community Building in the Digital Age,both available at any Amazon store. I’ve been through life changes that I thought were the end of my world, but I’m still here. You never know what will happen next. Isn’t that what makes life interesting?