Subject: Is everything for the best?
Preview Text: On trusting life's rhythm, even when it's hard
Lately, things haven't been going 100%.
I've been arguing with my partner more than usual. Work feels unstable (the joys of being independent). And we're living abroad right now, so we don't have friends or family nearby.
It feels like the ground beneath me is muddy.
When you're deep in it like this, you lose perspective. You stop seeing things from a bird's-eye view.
You lose proportion.
You appreciate less.
You forget to feel grateful.
And worst of all - you start to believe this state will last forever.
But here's what I'm trying to remember:
Life has a natural rhythm. Good or bad, nothing stays the same. Everything passes.
And sometimes - often, actually - the things that feel awful in the moment turn out to be the best things that ever happened to us.
Think about it:
The person who gets divorced and then meets the love of their life.
The person who gets fired and finds a job that actually makes them happy.
The car that breaks down, making you miss the accident that happened five minutes ahead.
The rejection that redirects you toward something better.
The loss that teaches you what truly matters.
At the time? It feels like everything is falling apart.
Looking back? You realize it was falling into place.
Mo Gawdat has a thought experiment that's been helping me with this.
(If you don't know Mo - he's a former Google executive, author, and one of the most grounded thinkers I've been following for years. I listen to his podcasts constantly, and I'll be sharing a lot of his work in this newsletter because it's that good.)
He created something called the Eraser Test, and here's how it works:
Write down a traumatic event from your past.
Imagine you have the option to completely erase it - not just the memory, but the event itself.
But if you erase it, you also erase everything that came from it. The lessons. The growth. The relationships. The parts of yourself that were shaped by it.
The result?
He's done this with around 12,000 people, and 99.99% chose not to erase the event.
Even though it was painful. Even though they wish it never happened. They wouldn't give it back - because erasing it would mean erasing meaningful parts of who they've become.
So what are the chances that your negative experience is part of that 0.01% you'd actually want to erase?
Mo gives a personal example. He lost his son - the most painful event of his life. And he says he wouldn't erase it. Because of the meaning, the growth, and the positive impact that followed.
I'm not there yet with my own hard things. I'm still in the muddy part.
But I'm trying to trust that this too is shaping me into someone I'm meant to become.
Maybe everything doesn't happen for the best.
But maybe we can find a way to make it become the best.
Try this:
Take a few minutes and do the Eraser Test yourself.
Think of something hard from your past. Something you wish never happened.
Now ask yourself: If you could erase it completely - knowing you'd also lose everything it taught you, every way it shaped you - would you?
Write it down. Or just sit with it.
If you want to share, as always, I'd really love to know.
Who in your life could use a pause today?