Where We Need to Be

I’ll be honest with you. Things suck right now. I’m down. Jenni is down. Work is stressful and all of our energy is going toward trying to help Desmond the best that we can. Our family and main support are all back in Indiana, and to top it off there has been a recent family death that has hit us pretty hard. Yeah, life sucks right now.

I also realized something yesterday. We have officially lived in Redmond for one year. When a milestone like this happens, it’s easy to get lost in reflection. I begin asking myself, “Was this the right move? Why are we here? Shouldn’t we be closer to family during these trying times? Was it worth the time/expense/stress to uproot my entire family to move across the country?” All deep questions to ask when you’re feeling down.

Most people may not know this about me, but I am a deeply spiritual person. Not religious. Spiritual. This will come as a shock or surprise to most, because I almost never talk about my beliefs. They are my own and that is generally good enough for me. At this moment in time though, I feel the need to write some of them down.

Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Why do bad things happen? I believe I have the answer to all of these questions, and it’s simple. We incarnate to this world from a higher plane of existence so that we can experience this world in all its glory, the good with the bad. Every experience we go through helps us grow and mature as an individual part of God/Allah/Brahman/Buddha or whatever other higher power you choose to believe in. We are all a unique part of this higher power and every time we experience and grow we are contributing to the overall growth of this higher, universal power.

Another belief of mine, which might be a little harder for some to grasp, is that we plan out our entire lives and the things we want to experience and learn from before we incarnate to this world. Mothers, Fathers, Sons, Daughters, Best Friends, Kindred Spirits… these are all predetermined by ourselves on the Other Side before we come here.

Knowing this, it’s easy to see why I am the way I am. One of my favorite quotes is “Whatever happens, happens.” I truly believe this! Everything that happens is supposed to happen exactly the way it should – exactly the way it was planned.

Of course, I don’t know if this is true. There’s no way to know, really. But this spiritual belief/philosophy helps me understand and accept all things. A dear friend has a brain tumor? That is awful… for him, his family, his friends… but it’s all those unique experiences from all those individual people that combine and contribute to the growth of all. And it was all planned in advance, by us, and we’ll meet about it and laugh on the Other Side once this life is over.

So to return to my original, personal deep questions in regard to our move to the Pacific Northwest. Was this the right move? Why are we here? Shouldn’t we be closer to family during these trying times? Was it worth the time/expense/stress to uproot my entire family to move across the country?

Yes. We are meant to be here because this is where we need to be. This is where we planned to be. Without this move we most likely wouldn’t have caught Desmond’s diagnosis so early, and Seattle has some of the most amazing ASD resources in the world. We really are lucky to have gotten him into these therapies and programs so early.

Is it hard? Yes. Is it stressful? Yes. Can we do it? Yes. Is it meant to be? Yes. I truly believe there isn’t a thing that life can throw at us that we can’t overcome, because we planned it ourselves in advance. The harder the experiences are the more opportunity for growth, and that’s exactly how it should be. As Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.”