Metaphors for Life That Can Fit Your Journey

Metaphors about life are figures of speech that state that one thing is actually another thing. They are a way of creating a comparison that while not literally true, provides a figurative meaning. This can help you think about your life and problems in a different way, also serving as a source of encouragement, motivation, or gratitude.

Here we explore some common metaphor examples about life that can be used to inspire you in your daily life. These metaphors may also help you better understand some of the challenges you face, giving you the ability to see more clearly why you feel the way you do or even how to move forward.

How Metaphors About Life Begin

As children, we begin to understand and organize the world. If we think of the brain as a filing cabinet, childhood is when we open new files and label them. We then spend the rest of our lives putting material in these files.

Metaphors often begin as a way to understand the world around us, both as individuals and within the communities in which we live. They can make it easier to know where to place this information in our internal filing system.

Impact of Metaphors for Life

Even if we don't know the origin of certain life metaphors, many have stood the test of time for good reasons. These metaphor examples not only help us define and describe an experience but they can be used to improve our lives in many ways.

For example, some people see life as a battle. Every encounter is a struggle, and if they don't win, they feel like they have lost. Others view life as an adventure. Each new day brings new opportunities to explore, and if something goes badly today, there's always tomorrow.

If you are facing a challenge, a metaphor might help you see the big picture and give you strength. For example, someone going through cancer treatment may look at the journey as climbing a mountain. It may be difficult at the moment, but the view that lies at the top helps them keep pushing forward.

Metaphors can also provide a picture that helps others enter your world. A picture is often worth a thousand words, but a word picture (a metaphor) can sometimes do the same. Alternatively, a negative metaphor may help you see that you haven't been living your life the way you wish. It might be the stimulus you need to make changes.

Common Metaphor Examples for Life

Metaphors for life are not always obvious. We may have to stand back a long way to see patterns. Because the way we look at things can have a great impact on how our lives unravel, it's worthwhile to think about the metaphors that fit the life we currently live.

Metaphors can be positive or negative. These are just examples and not every metaphor will resonate with every individual. Take a moment to think of other metaphor examples that may describe your life or serve you better.

Garden

If you see your life as a garden, you may feel that relationships with family and friends can be cultivated like flowers or vegetables. Relationships, like flowers, need regular watering. They need sunshine. Sometimes they need to be pruned. Sometimes you need to weed the garden (or eliminate toxic friends).

The end result of careful and regular care, with timely interventions for insect infestations or decay, can lead to plants (or relationships) that are growing, producing oxygen that helps you breathe. They also create beauty as they flower and bloom.

Battle

You may see a battle as a metaphor for your life if everything is a competition or a struggle. In a battle, you are always either winning or losing. If a battle represents your life, you may wish to look at how life isn't always about winning or losing.

Mission

Viewing your life as a mission can be either positive or negative. You may feel that you have talents and gifts you wish to share. On the other hand, you might feel that you need to convince others that your point of view is the only correct one.

Just as with missions throughout history, your life can be a platform to bring goodness to the world. Alternatively, you may see your mission as the need to impose your beliefs on those who do not wish to hear them.

Journey

A journey is a common metaphor for life as it reminds us that the destination is not our only goal. Like with any journey, there are times when the roads are straight and times when they are winding.

This metaphor example helps us remember that there will be ups and downs and potholes along the way—times when life will feel easy and times when life feels hard. Yet, there are also often wonderful surprises and fun discoveries that we would never have experienced if it weren't for the route we chose.

Adventure

An adventure can also be a beautiful metaphor for life. We don't always know where we are going, but the thrill of our travels (our day-to-day living) leaves us excited and ready to see and experience new things.

Building

A building is a solid metaphor for life and can be a reminder that a sturdy foundation is needed before building higher. Once you have a firm foundation in place, whatever that means to you, it's easier to confidently add floors and rooms that will stand the test of time and weather.

Roller Coaster

This metaphor example can describe life or it can describe the speed bumps we encounter. For example, people with a chronic disease know the roller coaster effect of a challenging diagnosis. Using the metaphor of a roller coaster also illustrates what many people who have had hardships understand so well.

You don't fully experience the high points of your journey without the contrast of the lows. For example, studies are now finding that being diagnosed with cancer doesn't just introduce challenges but can also change people in positive ways as well.

Stained-Glass Window

The metaphor of a stained-glass window illustrates not just the variety of lights and colors which make up our world, but the beauty in every person and situation. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude by taking the time to see what isn't obvious at a quick glance can be illustrated by this metaphor.

Mountain Climb

Climbing a mountain is a great metaphor for many parts of our lives. It can describe our educational path or the steps we take in climbing the corporate ladder. Life often consists of hierarchies.

This metaphor example also illustrates that it typically takes hard work, determination, and sometimes sheer endurance to get where we wish to go. Most mountain paths are not directly uphill, but take us down through valleys to get to the next peak.

Race

A race can be both a positive and negative metaphor for life. In the biblical sense of the metaphor, we are called to run the race of life not only for the prize.

A race can also be a negative metaphor, as in the "rat race," describing how sometimes we are so busy going from one place to another that we never really stop to enjoy any particular moment. In yet another negative sense, a race can describe the practice of always finding the fastest route, or needing to keep up with the proverbial Joneses.

Courtroom

If you view life as a courtroom, life can be challenging. In a courtroom, everything in life should be fair. Real life, however, is not always fair.

Good people die young and criminals go free. If you try to constrain your life to the metaphor of a courtroom, you open yourself up for repeated disappointment.

Stepping Stones

Stepping stones can be a metaphor for life in many ways. In a negative sense, stepping stones may describe the phenomena in which we barely get comfortable where we are before we look for a better job or a bigger house. In another sense, stepping stones can be a positive metaphor for a life lived with goals in mind and conscious awareness of the steps needed to get there.

This metaphor can also describe how we sometimes take a detour right or left along our way to prevent negative influences from catching up with us. An example of this type of metaphor is stepping stones crossing a stream in a garden.

Classroom

Life is a classroom in so many ways and there are always new lessons to learn no matter your age. This metaphor can be a reminder to keep your mind active and strive to continue to learn throughout your life.

Prison

A prison can be a metaphor for a life in which you feel out of control. You may feel like you don't have choices and that others have the power. If this is you, it might be helpful to visualize a key to the door by which you can escape to your freedom, and what that might mean in real life.

Battery

A battery represents a life metaphor example of being drained and recharged through life, such as the daily drain of energy related to work, followed by weekends and evenings in which to recharge. Often taking small periods of time to recharge at frequent intervals leaves your battery less likely to die (lose all energy).

How to Use These Metaphor Examples

The examples above are just a few of the metaphors that illustrate people's lives. What metaphors fit your life? Do they work for you or do they cause problems and limit your choices? It's possible to change metaphors or modify yours (such as finding the key to the prison cell) but it can take some effort.

Taking the time to think about the metaphors that fit your life can help you find patterns that aren't working well for you, motivate you in positive directions, and help you cope with the obstacles we all periodically face. Think of your life metaphors today, but don't stop there.

Periodically re-think your life metaphors. Are they positive metaphors that bring you peace and contentment, help you reach goals, or allow you to see the beauty around you? Or are they negative metaphors that are limiting your life?

Good mental health includes having metaphors that help you see the big picture of your life. After thinking about your life metaphors, learn about other ways in which you can become a positive thinker and reduce stress in your life.

Takeaways

Metaphors about life can be helpful ways of thinking through problems you might be facing. They can also serve as a source of inspiration and motivation to encourage you to keep working toward your goals.

At other times, negative metaphors might hold you back or contribute to feelings of hopelessness or helplessness. If your life metaphors are hurting instead of helping, look for ways to reframe your thinking in order to take a more positive, optimistic approach.