Trials and Tribulations

So to start off my 'ramblings' I'm going to start on a topic that is not discussed or spoken of very much, yet has a huge impact in our lives and our growth. Trials and tribulations (or struggles and difficulties for the less literate) are things that happen to everyone at different stages of life, in varying degrees.

We each have our own mountain to climb, our own secret struggle. Whether you are struggling with not having many friends at school or struggling to have a baby with your spouse we all face different struggles. To each of us our struggles often feel like more than we can handle. I often hear people struggling with things I once struggled with and I think it really isn't that bad, and then there are people who I hear are going through much more than I think I could even begin to understand. But to each of us our struggles are the biggest, our mountains are the highest, our giants are the strongest. It just goes to show you how much perspective changes things. If I think about when I struggled to make friends in primary school and compare that to a mother who has lost her husband and children making friends seems like the silliest thing ever, but at the time I felt like it was the end of the world. Perhaps this changes as we grow up but I think it all depends on perspective. We all-too-often only look at things from our limited perspective.

While difficult times are almost never happy times in our lives we should be grateful for them, for it is through difficult times that we grow and better ourselves. Without my struggles to make friends I'd probably just be a normal socialiser, but because I had to struggle with it I now have no trouble making friends or meeting new people.

Finding joy and happiness in these times is not an easy thing to do at all, but I think that just depends on perspective. You can see that you are struggling and things are difficult, or you can see that there are hundreds of wonderful things to find happiness in as you grow, to see the beauty in the suns rays or the waves upon the sand. Happiness may be difficult to come by in these times but joy is finding happiness in the situation. God helps a lot with that. If you are not Christian and do not know what I am talking about maybe you should look into it but my brothers and sisters will know the joy and peace His presence brings.

As I have fought through this last year it has only been with His strength that I have gotten through this. I thought it was over now, that the season was changing, but even if it is not I have His love in my life. No one can take away the love He has given me. All it takes is the right perspective to see. I am so grateful for all that He has blessed me with. All it takes is faith in Him and reliance on His goodness.

I hope that one day you also see that perspective changes everything. You cannot always be happy, but you can find joy in the goodness of God and His world.

Jem.

"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."

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