The past few days have reminded me of a story I was told a long time ago.

“Evan. Not everybody plays by the same rules as you. In fact, not many will play by the same rules at all. Life is so incredibly complex. You may be standing on the pitcher’s mound and someone is in left field with a golf club running in circles. You can’t convince them that they aren’t playing the game of baseball if they believe they are. You just have to wait for the next batter to come to the plate.”

These are hard lessons to learn but they are lessons nonetheless. You have to play by the rules that you know in your heart and good and true and allow your soul to light up. It is when you focus too much on expectations that you truly set yourself up for heartache. I believe Shakespeare said something to that effect.

We all search for meaning and we truly do need companionship and love. However, I think we often forget the people who have been right there with us since the beginning…or who have joined in on the journey along the way…all ready to ride until the final day. We search for the new because it is exciting and mysterious to us. We sometimes haphazardly put ourselves out in the open without any true insight into what we are doing. And when the hurt comes, it becomes very apparent that we were only, maybe slightly, acting out of desperation for someone to incite our passion. But the truth is, that burning desire to love other people and create a magnificent life cannot be at the control of others. Relationships are so fleeting in their nature that to depend on external forces to drive your desire will only lead to a stale heart. It is the internal drive that will lead you to your wildest of dreams.

So as I see things right now, it’s time to continue digging deeper. My oh my what this life can teach you.

Evan Sanders
The Better Man Project