We raise hogs and chickens, so no matter what we do, every summer we are surrounded by flies. We keep our coops and our pens relatively clean, but when raising animals you’re gonna have flies.
That’s just life.
I think of flies as pests. They bite. They get in your face. They fly up your nose. But when you stop to consider what the function of a fly really is, you might begin to realize they serve a greater purpose beyond making us feel uncomfortable.
Flies eliminate waste. Dead animals, spoiled food, organic material. Their main function is to decompose living matter so that it can break down and return to the earth. Essentially, flies are the ultimate recyclers!
I think of flies the same way I often think of obstacles in my life. You know what I mean by obstacles. Things or people that get in the way of your plans or comfort. Interruptions. Hardships. Things that just don’t go right.
That job you interviewed for but never got a call back.
That epic weekend you planned that had to be canceled due to weather.
The promotion you didn’t get.
Life is full of flies. Some are big. Some are small. But let’s be real…most of us tackle life with certain expectations. I planned it, I wanted it, so I deserved it!
When things don’t go my way I feel annoyed.
But think about that. If things always went our way, how would we ever grow? How would we ever learn to overcome? How would we ever be able to offer empathy to other people? If we never faced any challenges, we’d be the most egotistical, self centered and entitled people on the planet.
The fly was created with a purpose. What if we found purpose in hardship? What if some of our setbacks, our failures, and the things that didn’t go our way were placed in our life so that we didn’t get off course? So that we would eventually experience greater things down the road?
What if there was a bigger plan for our lives than what we create ourselves?
It’s time to look at life with new eyes. Stop and consider that life isn’t happening to us, but rather we are all part of an ecosystem designed with purpose. Every day we are given the opportunity to learn from our experiences and to grow. But the choice is ours.
I’m still bothered by flies. And I’ll continue to try to limit their presence in my life.
In the same way, I still get annoyed when things don’t go my way. I’m human. But I’m beginning to understand that most of the things we experience in this life have a purpose, and if we seek to understand what that purpose is then things begin to make a little more sense.
Be encouraged.
Sean David Ealy 