When You’re Struggling

We all struggle and we all agree that when we’re struggling, we usually either learn something or the process gets us prepared for the next thing that is usually bigger and better. When we struggle, we develop some skills, knowledge, perspective, or maybe just experience the contrast we need to enjoy the less strugglesome times even more. 

If that’s the case, why do we view struggle so negatively? Why can’t we be excited about struggle? Why can’t we wake up, feel like shit and say:

“YES! This struggle is real and it’s what I need right now and it’s going to result in something great.” 

If we actually embraced (we already know) how much our struggles help us, we’d be excited to struggle. We’d say: 

“Shit yea! I’m fucking broke! Not even sure how I’m going to pay this month’s bills. Something AMAZING is going to come of this!”

We would recognize that something super, super important is coming along because of this struggle. 

We’d exclaim: 

“My friend just totally screwed me over! Boy, this hurts like a motherfucker, so it MUST mean that something positively unbelievable is coming along! I’m going to learn something REALLY important from this!” 

Our struggles prepare us for bigger, better things to come in life. Things that we can’t even know what they are yet, much less how wonderful they will be. 

The other day, I messaged a friend to see how he was doing. I started to type, “I hope your having a wonderful day…” then paused. It didn’t feel right. I thought…. hmmm… maybe a wonderful day isn’t what he needs today. Maybe he need to have a shitty day so he can learn something from it? So, I changed it to, “I hope your having an amazing day… or a shitty day, whatever you need to have.” Not many people would understand, but fortunately, he did. Because he laughed, and agreed. 

Years of meditation and questioning everything I‘ve ever thought true have allowed me to maintain a level of peace even when my emotions are not what I’d prefer them to be — most of the time. 

If you’re struggling, remember that whatever this is … it’s preparing you for something amazing. Think you can change how you react next time you’re struggling? I haven’t, but it sure is a refreshing way to look at struggle.

Bonus points: Hug somebody who’s struggling. 

Featured Image Credit: Photo by pawel szvmanski on Unsplash

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