I was thinking back on some of the many lessons I have learned over my lifetime, and I have come to the conclusion that there is very little that I would change. Sure we have a tendency to want to relive parts of our life, but I think that is something that comes natural to most everyone. I have wondered what life would be like right now had I not done some of the things I have done in the past and what would I be like now if I had the opportunity to have a "Do Over"? I think back to my early Twenties and wonder where I would be if I had zigged instead of zagged? If I had studied something else in college or done something different in terms of employment? When I spread out the canvass of my life I can see why things have happened the way they have happened and I am thankful that I've gotten to this point in my life knowing and experiencing the things that I have gone through.
I have said this many times in the past and I believe it now more than ever before: things happen for a reason and each trial or set-back is a learning experience. Now there have been times when I have been in the middle of a crisis or mental melt down, but through it all I have come out better for it. I can't sit here and say that it has been all good times, but even at my darkest moment I had a faith that said that tomorrow would be different and that I would live to fight another day. I have been at the end of my rope and quite frankly would have done pretty much anything to end it all and be at peace, or at least what my conception of peace was at the moment. There is one salient truth in this life and that truth is that each of us are here for a reason and much of what you go through in life is to get you to a point where you have an understanding of what that reason is. I have grown so much over the last few years and even though I would have given everything I owned away to escape some of the pain I have gone through, I can honestly say that it has all been worth it.
No one ever said that life would be simple and anyone who says that they have never encountered a set-back or defeat is not living in truth. How one handles a set-back or defeat is in large measure going to be predicated on how you see yourself and if you realize that there is a purpose for you being here. Those who quit at the first sign of conflict or those who simply question the "why" probably have never fully grasped the reason for their being here. I know this may sound like some mystical mumbo jumbo, but in reality those who know who they are and why they are here are the ones who can see past any smokescreen.
I was out and about the other day running some errands and just enjoying some time to relax and had no real agenda for the day, and don't you know that not having an agenda for a day is sometimes something that we all need. As I was out and about on my day I took some time to just observe others that were out and about with their day. I often wonder if these people are dealing with the same struggles that I am going through? Do they get up in the morning ready to take on the day or do they wish they could stay tucked away in their nice warm bed hoping to escape the drudgery of the day that is certainly waiting for them? As I said before we all have struggles. We all have those times when we want to hole up in bed and not come out for fear that our worst expectations will certainly come to pass on this day. I am just as guilty as anyone when it comes to dealing with less than desired situations and truth be told if I could bury them deep in the ground and never have to deal with them I would. Alas, that is not living and the sooner you tackle these things head on the sooner you can take that step toward freedom. We must learn that things do happen to teach us something, and teach us they will. Well maybe attempt to teach us is a better way of putting it, because there are some out there who will continue to avoid life's lessons at all cost.
Many have heard me say this before, but there are certain things that bear repeating and this is one of those things: you can't avoid the lessons in life that you are destined to learn. You can run from them, you can hide from them, and you can even ignore them, but at the end of the day, you are still going to have to deal with them. Looking at those things we face each day should be looked at not as an obstacle that you will never get around or over, but rather as an opportunity to teach you something that you are going to need later on in life. I don't care how old you are, we will be learning lessons until the day we die, so you might as well accept that fact and get on with it. Some of these lessons may appear as dark, black, ominous thunderclouds, but behind them is the "Silver Lining" that is just waiting for you to discover it. Lessons learned are lessons that you would do well to hold on to and reflect upon. Sure some of them come with associated pain and suffering, but the pain and suffering one might go through to learn the lesson is nothing compared to the pain and suffering you will go through if you refuse to learn from these lessons and then find yourself having to go through the same old thing time and time again.
I have lived the "Should have", "Could have", and "Would have" syndrome, and each time I come to the same conclusion, better to have lived it once, then go through it time and time again. Take the challenges as they come, and work through them. Look at life as one big lesson and know that from this lesson you will be on your way to being the person you were destined to be. If you are always thinking that the glass is half empty, then you will always be looking for a silver lining, that in reality you really don't believe in. If on the other hand the glass is always half full, well then you will have given yourself the upper hand in pretty much anything that life might throw at you and when it is all said and done, you will have learned a very valuable lesson.
Life's lessons, as painful as they might be from time to time, have always been, and will always be, designed to equip you with all you need to be the person you were designed to be. Don't run from these lessons, rather embrace them and realize that goodness can come from bad situations. Today is a day to learn, and in this you will be equipped to become the person that the rest of the world needs.
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