The-struggle-is-part-of-it

The Struggle Is Part of It

We get worn out with life’s twists and turns sometimes.  It can get to the point where we would like to catch a break and have things fall into line for us.  That is when I remind myself of John Maxwell’s quote, “Everything worthwhile is uphill.”  The struggle is part of the journey; there are always problems, challenges, and things that go wrong.  That part is easy to acknowledge, but when we expect breaks and things to go natural and fall into line, we are setting ourselves up for failure.  The Struggle Is Part of It.  All of this that we are experiencing right now is temporary, and by reminding ourselves that we can’t get to where we need to go without the struggle, we gain momentum for ourselves.  I heard someone say once; Trouble has an expiration date.  I like that concept because when we’re in the middle of it, it just seems like it is going on forever.

Part of the discouragement with struggle lies when our concentration on what we don’t have, what we think we need, instead of just making up the difference with what we do have.   By changing our attitude, much like we change a channel, we start to see what is present, what we have, and how great it is to be here.  Let’s say that you’re working on a project and you stay late to spend more time on it trying to reach a deadline.  The more you work on it, the more difficult it seems to become.  So you take a break, maybe even go home, and decide to look at it another day.  When you return, the problem seems to solve itself.  You sit down, start in on it, and suddenly you have moved through the challenge.  Have you ever had that happen?  I have done that so many times, and the first few times, I didn’t recognize what had just happened.  It just moved on.  Then it would happen again and again.  After a while, I noticed that when I knew that the struggle was only part of something I was working on and then moved on, the problem also seemed to move on.

Here is my point. Take time to acknowledge that struggle is a part of many good things in life and that you have the skills and talents to recognize that and solve the problem.  When we do that, we’re in effect, releasing the problem from the struggle, and when we return, we look at it from a new light.  It somehow seems more natural, and answers move obviously.  I like to remind myself that I have endured many struggles and come through them just fine and that this one will not defeat me either.  Then move on to enjoy life by recognizing where you are right now.

I have written on this a few times; here is a post on Trust Your Struggle – Dr. Rich Patterson (pattersonphd.com)

Psychology Today has a great article on The Struggle to Be Strong (Book Review) | Psychology Today, read here.

I hope that you find this helpful.

Yours for a Better Life,

Rich