Painful Passages
Today I am grateful for a phone conversation with my friend Deb. I am also grateful for the abilities to read, write, and type.
Yesterday I blogged about new passages and the bridge being constructed in our community. Passages come in all forms, and getting from one place to another can be easy at times, painful and difficult at other times.
We have all had painful passages in our lives. It may have been from childhood to our teenage years. It may have been a move from one home to another. It may have been the ending of a relationship. It may have been a job that didn't work out or a business venture that failed. It may have been the death of a loved one or a disbaling accident.
Painful passages cannot be entirely avoided. Arguably, they shouldn't be. Avoidance and denial often create bigger problems. Facing the challenge and taking the tough steps builds character and teaches us how to cope with life. Life will not always be fair and life will not always go the way I want it to. All the better to be prepared for those times and all the better to have healthy tools and strategies to help us through.
Gratitude is one such healthy tool for me. When facing a difficulty, gratitude doesn't remove it entirely, but it often helps take the edge off. It also keeps me facing in the right direction, and perspective is everything in the face of adversity.
I appreciate what the painful passages in my life have taught me.
Yesterday I blogged about new passages and the bridge being constructed in our community. Passages come in all forms, and getting from one place to another can be easy at times, painful and difficult at other times.
We have all had painful passages in our lives. It may have been from childhood to our teenage years. It may have been a move from one home to another. It may have been the ending of a relationship. It may have been a job that didn't work out or a business venture that failed. It may have been the death of a loved one or a disbaling accident.
Painful passages cannot be entirely avoided. Arguably, they shouldn't be. Avoidance and denial often create bigger problems. Facing the challenge and taking the tough steps builds character and teaches us how to cope with life. Life will not always be fair and life will not always go the way I want it to. All the better to be prepared for those times and all the better to have healthy tools and strategies to help us through.
Gratitude is one such healthy tool for me. When facing a difficulty, gratitude doesn't remove it entirely, but it often helps take the edge off. It also keeps me facing in the right direction, and perspective is everything in the face of adversity.
I appreciate what the painful passages in my life have taught me.
this made me think of a few quotes...
ReplyDeletePain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. ~M. Kathleen Casey
If you're going through hell, keep going. ~Winston Churchill
We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, "Why did this happen to me?" unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way. ~Author Unknown
A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn. ~Author Unknown
and last but not least...
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. ~Mother Teresa
Thanks for adding these quotes to the discussion AnnMarie! I appreciate them all. Plenty of food for thought. As it says in the long form of the Serenity Prayer--"accepting hardship as the pathway to peace."
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