Recently a friend of mine ran into some troubling adversity. I tried earnestly to say something that would help, but I was at a total loss for words. The situation was a tough one, and no words seemed adequate.
What do you say to someone who suffers from devastating news? Don’t worry. It’ll get better with time?
Let’s face it, in moments like this, that kind of statement can feel like a slap in the face because it’s hard to see past the blow. Until we’ve walked in someone’s shoes, we can’t be certain what thoughts are running around the mind. I’ve heard it said repeatedly that time heals.
I do believe this is true. Time heals. It doesn’t completely take away the pain, but it does eventually smooth over some of the initial bumps. I find great hope in this concept. And I hope my friend and you do too.
Everything is Temporary
As deflating as adversity can feel at the moment, I believe it puts us in a place that helps us grow into even better people. Because everything is temporary and doesn’t last forever, we can draw out the lessons and experiences and transform from them.
Something to keep in mind – without pain, agony, and defeat, we have no frame of reference on which to judge greatness when it shines itself onto our life. I am a firm believer that defining moments shape our lives just as the powerful storms and angry volcanoes of years past have shaped Earth.
We need adversity
Without adversity, we’d have no Grand Canyon, no Mount Everest, no separate continents, and in respect to our singular lives, no respect for ordinary days when all is calm and right. And just as the temporary storm clouds clear and open up to bright blue, sunny skies, my wish for anyone battling adversity is that so too will the shrouds of fear, sadness, and hopelessness be lifted for you. For everything is temporary.
For the sake of analogy, let’s take nature to explain the beauty in the temporary. In every blink, life evolves. What disguises itself as death in nature is quite spectacularly a sacrificial dance of transformation. In nature we see the falling of leaves as a marked finality from their mighty sustainer. Yet, their shedding grants a moment of revival. Beneath the surface exists an exciting universe of possibility where nutrient-rich life blooms in a nurturing cocoon. Energy circulates and provides the eager new growth with the power to transform into fresh new life. This newness gathers its strength and bursts through the protective coating of its womb and reaches toward the air in a dance of spectacular beauty. In symbiotic union, the new bloom shares its life-sustaining richness with the world, offering its grace and love to all. It will share its fruit until it, too, has lived its purpose, at which point it will sacrifice its temporary gifts for the promise of future generations. It is only through this temporary cycle that we emerge stronger and more capable to thrive along with life’s dynamic nature.
