The Myth of the Straight Path

> "The reason we suffer is that we believe life should be something it isn’t." — Alan Watts

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The Line We Imagine

We are taught to picture life as a straight path.

Clear direction. Steady progress. Logical steps.

School leads to career.

Effort leads to success.

Plan leads to outcome.

But reality rarely moves in straight lines.

It curves, loops, pauses, and sometimes doubles back without explanation.

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The Anxiety of Deviation

When life shifts unexpectedly, we feel lost.

Not because something is wrong,

but because it doesn’t match the line we imagined.

A change of direction feels like failure.

A detour feels like delay.

A pause feels like falling behind.

But behind what, exactly?

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The Shape of Growth

Look at nature.

Rivers bend.

Trees twist toward light.

Seasons rotate rather than advance.

Nothing important in existence grows in a straight line.

Why should you?

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Letting the Curve Be Natural

The straight path is a mental drawing —

useful for maps, but not for living.

Life moves in rhythms and spirals.

Sometimes forward, sometimes inward, sometimes nowhere in particular.

When you stop insisting on linear progress,

you stop fighting the shape of reality.

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The Quiet Relief

You are not late.

You are not off track.

You are not behind schedule.

There is no single road to follow.

There is only movement —

and you are already part of it.

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> "Life doesn’t unfold in straight lines —

it unfolds in living curves."