No silver linings

What if there was no looking at the bright side.

No sliver linings.

What if instead of looking for the best part of a bad thing we could reframe the bad thing as something else.

What if instead of categorizing and labeling the circumstances in our lives as negative or bad, we just believed that nothing had gone wrong?

What if we believed that sometimes things are just really hard and life is just a series of embracing challenges and growing through the process?

A challenge can be a miserable experience. It can be difficult, absolutely terrible, painful, seemingly impossible to get through, feel like it will never end. It can also be our finest teacher, greatest reward, and best example of what we're capable of.

Challenges that come to my mind...
...Childbirth
...Running a marathon
...Losing 100 pounds
...Leaving a job or relationship that is crushing your soul
...Putting a man on the moon
...Beating cancer

These challenges can be pretty awful in the middle of them, seemingly impossible, painful, that they might even kill us or someone else. But it would be hard to argue these things aren't also amazing, life changing in the best way, and completely worth all of the pain and suffering.

It's easy to look back on challenges and find a silver lining, or to find the good that came out of a difficult experience.

What if we didn't just say it, but we could truly believe that every experience in our life - every beautiful sunrise and every heartbreak - happened exactly as it was supposed to.

What if instead of looking for the best in a bad situation we - in the moment - could instead appreciate the challenge... the opportunity for growth... the chance to become more and more the person we were put on this earth to be...

God doesn't make mistakes. His plan is greater than mine, greater than yours. It's up to us to trust that we're on the right path. Exactly where we're supposed to be. That the challenges we face, big and small are all happening precisely to move us closer and closer to becoming who we were meant to be.  

I don't know why things in my life have happened the way they have. It wasn't what I had planned. Not how I thought things were supposed to go. But I know that getting quiet. being still. listening. breathing. trusting. Has helped me uncover more of myself than has been uncovered in decades.

I have no idea what's next. Well actually I have some ideas, and they're good ones. But there is a quiet peace knowing that they may not happen. And that's ok. Whatever my path, it's the right one.

I hope my experiences remind you that even when it feels like it, you're never alone. I'm right there with you, using and sharing all the resources I have to navigate through life as gracefully as possible. ❤️