Why is struggle a part of life? Any time you try anything difficult or new, you are bound to have some type of struggle. Exercise requires struggle. Changing an opinion, belief, expectation or attitude requires struggle. Anytime you attempt growth in any area of your life, you will struggle. Why is it, then, that some people seem to go through life with no apparent struggle, while others seem to attract it into their life with every breath? I have known struggle in every area of my life: my career, my relationships, my financial life and my willingness to let go and surrender.

Struggle is not in our genes, but in our reaction to life and in our minds. It is not in our environment, but in our expectations. It is not in the circumstances or people in our lives, but in our desires.

The problem here is that each of us is trying to develop, design and live our ideal life, but we don’t know what it will or should look like. We are trying to move into a happy and successful future, but we don’t seem to know how to create it. We all want something more, better or less, in some area of our life, but are at a loss as to why we don’t or can’t have it.

Struggle is not necessary in our life. It is not required. Please note - I am not including the following in any definition of struggle: effort, failure, problems, risks, losses, broken dreams, lost loves, disappointment, stress, etc.

Struggle is our reaction to life: its successes, frustrations, achievements, failures and challenges. The level of struggle for each of us is defined by each of us in our own way using our own yardstick. I have spent many hours contemplating why I have often lived a life of struggle. My answer is: I wanted it and needed it to move me forward. Seems like a strange attitude I know, but it is the best I have come up with so far. Maybe when my life is struggle-free, I will have a better answer, but until then I seem to be cursed with this need to fight life every step of the way. I am discovering that when I release my attachments - the struggle ends.

How about you? What are you struggling with today? In this life? In your career or business? Your relationships? Once you let it go and surrender - the struggle seems to end. Try it, it might work for you, too. And you just might be happier and more successful in the process!

Tim Connor
http://www.timconnor.com