What's Sprouting From Drama?

This article was originally published in the Summer 2017 issue of Choices Magazine.  To view the published format, please click here.

I like drama. I know, we aren’t supposed to ‘like’ drama as a fully actualized human being but to be quite honest, drama has taught me more in my life than the good times. When my life is sunshine and roses I feel good but I don’t accomplish really big things in my life. That’s kind of hard to admit that it takes drama to shift me out of patterns that are unhealthy but it’s true. For me it isn’t the absence of drama as the goal, it’s learning the lessons from the drama that spirals me to the next level and gets me to growth.

When I’ve been kicked in the teeth, pulled down to my raw emotions and crying my eyes out I get to choose, who do I really want to be? Usually it isn’t the puddle of misery I’m currently in, drama forces me to choose who I want to be. It is in that moment of despair that I get to really look at the choices that got me to that low and evaluate my role in creating it. Of course, I can play the game that it was all about ‘them’ and what ‘they’ did to me that caused it, or, I can get real and own my own game. The owning of my game is where my true strength springs.

If, I really embrace that I somehow, someway, I created the circumstance I find myself in then I can create a way out. I am the maker of the game and that is my empowerment. It is a muscle that when exercised has the ability to transform me in ways that I currently can’t see or imagine. Just think if you are truly the master of your life you created the drama and the situation you are in, and, you can also change it. Being the master is power. Drama serves a great purpose in forcing us to choose what’s important for our growth and survival. If you really want a good life then looking at the drama on your doorstep is a good place to start. If I’m creating it then it’s mine and I get the opportunity to master what is holding me back from my intended purpose.

The work of transforming yourself is some of the hardest work you will do. As I embarked on the journey myself the hardest lesson I had to learn was the decision on whether I am a victim to life or a victor. It wasn’t the absence of drama that got me to that point but going through those tribulations that I began to emerge. Instead of seeing drama as a hindrance, I take it as a challenge. A challenge and testament to who and what I am. If you are looking to be fully actualized then it isn’t the absence of drama that defines you but how you navigate its impact. When you make friends with the process you begin to overcome it.

I don’t run from drama anymore or judge it as ‘bad’ or something to avoid. I see it as an opportunity to expand my current circumstance and change direction. As a plant needs to push through the soil to emerge to the light, so do we if we want to grow to new heights and possibilities. Embrace drama as an opportunity to jettison you to new vistas of awareness and see how your life blossoms in ways that will continually amaze you. Be the master and harvest the life you always wanted.