This insightful podcast by Rob Bell is about the feeling that came up to each of us when we find ourselves dealing with certain kinds of people or situations that we came across before in the past, which might almost feel like a lesson that kept testing us from time to time.
Like he mentioned, it isn’t a shame spiral but rather a student spiral, from which we can learn something new or something deeper or more profound.
I learnt that the subtlety and nuance of the student spiral is such that we are no longer who we used to be and we are now at a higher level of our evolution, or the video game, which he used as an analogy.
It is helpful to reframe the oft-asked question “why am I dealing with this kind of person or situation again?” to the realisation that “it is part of being who I am, and I am me learning how to be me”.
For example, I learnt that years ago, Rob Bell used to pour all his energies into his ministry or mission in the endeavour to change the world and ended up exhausted and burnt out, and had to seek counselling, and this time round when the same kind of situation appeared on the horizon, he is now wiser and has the benefit of hindsight to see how he is no longer who he used to be, for life is like a curriculum from which we came here on earth to learn something, and he has learnt how to balance his energies better.
Similarly, you are far wiser and more resourceful when dealing with a person or situation that seems similar to that in the past, and though the same feeling of “this again?” may pop up, perhaps it is all part of being who you are, and learning to deal with them more effectively, using the next level of wisdom and hindsight that you now have.
It might very well also be that you could become a mentor to others who might face a similar challenge, just as Rob Bell is now using his past experience to share the lessons he learnt with others so that we all can also learn and be encouraged to know that we are not alone in facing difficulties in life.
Like he mentioned, if a character in all six seasons of a TV show could learn everything once and for all, it would screech to a halt, for reality isn’t made that way, as it is our very humanity that we don’t have to have it all together and we can relate to one another’s struggles better by going through certain things and encourage one another even as we share our human experiences as well.
Real Rest is the Best 