I write in a journal every morning. It’s a personal thing, just thoughts and musings and lists of things I need to do. Sometimes it is very mundane, and sometimes things come out of it that I wasn’t expecting.
There was something I wrote the other day that at the time didn’t seem that important, but I was glancing back and noticed it a few days later. The sentence ripped through me like lightning. It read:
Sometimes pain and heartache are necessary to strip away the protective armour, to lay one bare before creation to rediscover who we really are.
That was it. It seemed so simple, so clear and meaningful. Could it be that we need to appreciate our darkest hours as being the most beautiful moments of our lives?
If there were no challenges, there would be no growth. If there was no heartache, there would be no joyous appreciation of love. If we didn’t hurt, we would never feel.
No one said this life would be easy. It doesn’t matter where you were born, who your parents are, what advantages or disadvantages you have in your life.
There will always be pain, and there will always be challenges. You will always encounter exactly what you need in order to become the full expression of who you are.
Even if you think that things can’t improve, when you have reached the absolute depths of despair, there is always a way to get up and get out. The rollercoaster of life ensures that things will get better.
In that moment there is the opportunity to release all expectations and to reach for anything that feels a little bit better. A glimmer of hope in the darkness is all that it takes.
The first thing to do is believe. With the feeling of belief comes the ability to find solutions.
Don’t impose your will on life. Not everything is going to go the way that you demand of it. By becoming flexible and soft, you can weather any storm.
The human will is a miraculous thing. Incredible strength can be found when it is needed, and grace can be the force that moves you through the most difficult of moments.
Accept that you are more powerful than you can ever know. Accept that whatever you are dealing with, the strength is within you to come out on the other side.
Be grateful for the tough times, be graceful through the good. Help others when they need it. There is nothing that will make you feel better than making someone else’s day a little brighter.
When you begin to care more for the well-being of others than for what you feel you are entitled to in this life, the satisfaction that you feel will be overwhelming. Be in service of others when you are needed, and accept help when it is you who is down.
There are no lines in the sand to draw, no need to cling to what you think is rightfully yours, no need to fight and claw your way through life.
There is much more ease and peacefulness to be found in allowing whatever is happening around you in the moment to govern your actions. Treat everyone you encounter as a brother or sister and not as an enemy.
We are all the same. We all want love, security, and freedom. Everything we do is in search of this. This is the thread that weaves us together and will one day allow us to live in harmony.
When you are down, you are never out. Reach for help, allow the power of grace to fill you and know that you are an important member of this world.
Then return the favour when you can.