:: trust your struggle ::

these words honor the fact that we all have struggles, and they contain within them the trust of knowing that all the effort and difficulty is in service of something. That we're exactly right where we need to be, no matter how painful or pointless it might seem.

struggles are the times in life when we get knocked down so hard; it's difficult to imagine how we're going to get back up. we often experience these times more often then we would like, but what we learn during those difficult times is that what matters most becomes the clearest. nothing brings out the best and worst in you like a struggle.

in the midst of challenges we generally decide to fight or run. if you're anything like me, when it comes to chasing your dream, you fight and you fight HARD!

trusting your struggle means having the faith to believe that whatever you're going through is for your benefit. there are character traits and skills that are developed in the midst of hard times that make you a better person and help you prepare for the fruition of your dreams. you learn exactly what you're made of and often times you'll find that you have more strength and determination than you ever imagined.

and knowing ourselves helps us to make better decisions, because we know what we truly want or need.

but how do you deal with the pain of struggle?

by being open to grace. grace manifests the possibility that there is something greater than the pain we feel attached to or caught up in. grace encourages us to find peace and perhaps joy in the depth of struggle.

we usually spend too much time focusing on getting things right, making things better or back on track, that we forget how much effort it can be to get soft, to let go and be at peace.

when pain comes into our lives we can either try to ignore it, which usually allows us to suppress it and eventually effects us on a deeper level than we realize, we can bask in it, which often leads to depression, or we can trust that our struggle is a side effect of a deep rooted patterns that we finally have the ability to let go of.

while there are days when you may feel down or depressed, realize that you don't need to feel lost. embracing the journey of trusting your struggles is actually learning to trust in yourself and the path you find yourself on. what you gain is a sense of meaning.

as we find trust and meaning in our struggles, we find that there is no reason to feel lost. we are simply part of a larger story.

in the meantime, learn to trust your struggle.

* I'll refresh tired bodies; I'll restore tired souls.

  Jeremiah 31:25 - The Message (MSG)