My invitation to you is to consider the privilege and responsibility that comes with living your life fierce with reality.
“This means living your whole life journey open and fully embraced—yes, with its shadows, failures, and mistakes, but also with its successes and moments of light. Living in this manner allows you to experience life in meaningful, grounded, and sacred ways.“ – Parker Palmer
Our culture tells us that peace can be found by escaping—by bingeing seventeen episodes of a sitcom, scrolling endlessly through social media, or losing ourselves in football highlights. But these behaviors only deepen the void of internal self-worth.
Escapism is one of the most pervasive diseases of our time. Whether you run fifteen miles a day to outrun your pain, eat three bags of potato chips to numb it, pour another drink to forget it, or scroll for hours to avoid it—it’s all the same. It’s escapism.
I’m not suggesting that we cut all our joys and distractions out of life. But I am saying that true peace—deep, soul-level peace—comes from doing the harder things. It comes from looking the dragon in the eye. Even if it kicks your butt, you will walk away stronger and more alive.
It’s inevitable that we will be hurt and injured in this life. The real question is: can we transform those injuries into vibrant, light-filled growth experiences? Can we embrace our brokenness as the very doorway to healing?
Our calling—perhaps one of the deepest reasons for this mortal experience—is to grow into our authentic selves, whether or not that self conforms to whom others believe we should be.
So here’s my challenge:
Let’s stop escaping.
Let’s stop numbing.
Let’s find peace by walking straight down the sword of the dragon—toward the things that scare us most.
That is where freedom lives.
That is where peace is forged.
Rich Christiansen
