Most of us have come face-to-face with many struggles. Life has ups and downs. For some, these ups and downs are extreme, catapulting a person from the heights of euphoria to the depths of despair in a matter of the time it takes to draw a breath. Life tests us. Heartache is inevitable. As human beings, we can’t escape struggle. To fight it is futile. But, to embrace it is empowering.
Accept Struggles as a Pathway to Peace
We serve ourselves better when we stroll on the path of learning and accepting struggles as a way to peace. Space opens up for us to widen our stride, breathe deeper, capture a wide-angle view of what’s really happening alongside of us. Not shackled to the underbrush of hatred, anger, or other deflating emotions brought on by life’s blows, we’re free to absorb the lessons it is trying to teach us.
Absorb the lessons in struggles
What we resist persists, right? Let’s face it, we’re all going to face turmoil. So, how can be protect ourselves from its potential damage? How can we stand strong against its relentless push? How can we best survive these disappointments and heartaches?
If we look at struggles as an earthquake, we’ll see that we can’t avoid the quake, the destruction of what was, and the dust as it begins to settle on top and form new layers. We can’t. This is life. If we fight struggles, we stir up more of the suffocating dust and enshroud ourselves deeper into its destructive new landscape. But, if we can learn to accept the natural power of life by remaining peaceful and patient to turmoil’s fury, we can retain our wit and ability to survive.
Just as in an earthquake, struggles will continue to transform the landscape. They will shake us, re-shake us, and redefine the temporary. And just as with life, an earthquake may change the shape of what we fight to maintain, but it cannot break the sum of all that made it. For the dirt, rock and grass is, in fact, still the same dirt, rock and grass – just in renewed form.
Here’s the empowering thought:
Once the dust settles, we’re free to climb to our feet with renewed energy and clarity to define our new landscape in a way that suits our here and now. Weathered by struggles, we’re made stronger by our experiences with them.
I’ve come to a personal realization to not fight when life strikes an inevitable blow. Perhaps if we learn to embrace the fact that life may shake and knock us down temporarily, then we’ll grow to understand the other important fact that once the dust settles we will come out stronger, wiser, and mightier than before.
Do you have a different analogy you can share on how you view struggles? Let’s empower each other.
