I'm convinced the Universe continues to give us the lessons we need until we’ve really learned them.
I was laughing to myself recently about the biochemistry class I’m taking. I avoided biochem like the plague in college, and due to a career change, here I am almost 10 years later trying to re-memorize amino acid structures. Math and chemistry have always caused me to break out in a cold sweat, so jumping back in has been pretty challenging. Had I just taken the class back in college when the information was still fresh in my mind it would have be much easier, but at the time I was worried it would be too hard. I thought I was done with moles, buffers, and enzymatic reactions, but the Universe had other plans. I honestly believe this is life's way of helping me overcome my fear of numbers and equations once and for all.
These type of lessons show up in our lives in so many ways. If you’re lacking patience, you will always get in the longest line. If you tend to be more reserved, you will sit next to the most talkative person on the bus. If you’re a Type A neat freak, you’re bound to have a spouse or child that is delightfully disorganized.
I am hyper-anxious about being on time (thanks mom), and the Universe gave me a best friend and a husband who both only get ready at one speed. It doesn’t matter if we need to be somewhere 2 hours from now, or 5 minutes ago, either way they're going to take their time. Stacy will always unnecessarily blow dry her naturally perfectly straight hair, and Nick will always spend 20 minutes in the shower. I gave up on trying to rush them a long time ago, so the outcome is that we leave feeling relaxed instead of hurried. Sometimes we’ll end up being late but to my relief and surprise it’s usually no big deal. This used to drive me crazy, but now I’m so grateful that they have both helped me be more flexible and less anxious when it comes to punctuality.
I used to think life was just ironic in this way, but now I realize these lessons aren’t meant to frustrate you, they’re meant to teach you, to stretch you, to challenge you, to make you a little uncomfortable. If you’re allowing life to push your boundaries, you can bet that you’re growing into the best version of yourself.