“What do you mean by, ‘what does surfing porn give me?’” Thomas spoke with a degree of agitation in his voice as he suddenly stopped running. “All I can say is it makes me feel ashamed about myself. I feel guilty, Joe. I feel like I’m cheating on Samantha and that I’m some kind of sexual pervert for wanting to view this stuff while I should be working.”
The quest for purpose, meaning and fulfillment are key elements that unite all human beings. When we feel lost, alone, broken; when we feel entangled in the web of our own life choices; when the talons of fear and angst are crushing the life force from us, we cry out: “How did I end up here?”
And today, as we raise our voice in harmony, it may feel like heaven remains silent; it may appear like no one is listening.
The whole point of the External Problem is to manifest our Internal Problem. And ultimately, these first two levels of problem are focused on uncovering the key question that we’re all silently asking ourselves: Who am I?
Perhaps this is why C.S. Lewis wrote, “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
The external problem in your life today is acting like a megaphone or amplifier to rouse your attention – to help you get-in-tune with your internal problem – so that you can embrace your full humanity and experience breakthrough results.
In our last post, we left Steve in a predicament. Despite wanting to make a significant transition in his career, he feels uncertain about starting over and leaving his comfortable lifestyle behind.
So what should Steve do?
Should he stay where he’s at and enjoy the perks of being a business manager with an international firm while earning a six-figure salary, or should he go with his gut and leave it all behind to pursue a new career in sport medicine?
And this leads me to ask another question.