maze

Finding Our Way: navigating the maze of life

by Barry Bittman, MD

Life’s challenges are often extraordinary. That unexpected pink slip on payday, a relationship that ends abruptly, or the loss of a loved-one has the potential to hurl our lives into an uncontrollable tailspin.

Yet few challenges have the potential to impact on our lives like a change in our health. The routine checkup that leads to the unexpected diagnosis of a serious illness changes everything. Just when all seems to be going smoothly, our world is suddenly shattered by a situation that appears hopeless.

The impact of a potentially fatal disease is devastating. The world stops cold. Our past flashes before us in a whirling blur and we emerge in a state of timeless confusion with no direction is sight. It’s like being in a maze¾ lost, disoriented and bumping into walls everywhere we turn.

Sometimes we live our lives in a maze even before such adversity occurs. Caught up in the challenges of day to day living, we lose perspective of who we are and why we are alive. We expend our energy routinely moving from point A to point B and back again, as every new turn seems to lead to a blind alley. Lost and frustrated, we lose sight of the beacon of light that gives us direction. We simply exist without hope.

I suppose we’ve all been there before¾ more often than we’d like to admit. Traveling the maze is unsettling at best. Life seems far more enjoyable when there’s a clear path in sight. It’s not surprising that we shun the maze as an obstacle in the same way we despise uncertainty. When each decision, each turn and each step leads to the unknown, it’s difficult to pursue a journey through one corridor after another. That’s where hope comes in.

Hope is the part of us that comes to life when we welcome change. A mysterious guide that takes our hand and travels with us through the corridors of our mazes, hope shows us the writing on the wall¾ the answers that exist in each of us. Aristotle called her “a waking dream.”

The principles for successfully navigating the maze have been taught to me by many people. Some of my best teachers have been a number of patients who have defied the odds and proven that medicine is as much an art as a science. They have traveled some extraordinary mazes and rediscovered meaning and purpose through challenge and adversity. I’m convinced that they have healed themselves through their belief in God.

It is important to know that “healing” and “curing” are not the same. Death is inevitable and should never be considered a failure. Healing is restoring a sense of wholeness that evolves though one’s journey in the maze.

Healing can be accomplished through hope, love and faith when we realize that the maze appears in each of us when the need arises¾ not as an obstacle but rather as an opportunity. It reflects a need to grow, change and bring back into our lives what is missing. It is an opportunity to discover what it takes to realize our greatest potential.

It’s up to us individually to develop a healthier perspective of living life fully. When we consider the maze as a means for connecting with the answers we need, the wisdom hidden within us is revealed.

Essentially we begin to see life as a series of mazes traveled in our own way and on our own terms. Our personal journeys bring to light the healer within when we trust our spirituality and realize that success does not equate with survival.

I’d like to invite you to a challenge. The next time you’re faced with an unsettled, uncomfortable and unnerving feeling triggered by a change in your life, welcome your journey through the maze as an opportunity to discover what you need to know about yourself. Settle back, take a few deep breaths and know that you have everything you need to make your journey a success if you open your mind to the possibilities.

For some final words of wisdom, I’d like to take this opportunity to quote Anthony DeFail, the co-author of our recently-released book, Maze of Life. “It’s the way you choose to live your life and travel your maze that counts.” Ultimately, it’s a matter of choice¾ Mind Over Matter!