Tough Times:The Greatest Teacher
Someone has rightly said -
"Hard times are like a washing machine, they twist, turn and knock us around. But in the end, we come out cleaner, brighter, and better than before."
When faced with difficulties, our natural reaction is to avoid the situation rather than power through it. We don’t even want to acknowledge that we are going through one. Our picture-perfect Instagram and Facebook pictures, daily uplifting posts, 'I am fine' replies, (when we are not), all reflect that we prefer to suffer alone and in silence.
While we all want to have photoshopped versions of our own lives that fit perfectly into an Instagram square, life does not always work like that. We all are bound to face testing times at some point in life. It is one of the few things we can really count on. Be it a job-loss disappointment, loss of a loved one, a failed relationship, a major setback in business, a serious ailment, a clearly hopeless situation, or anything else that causes our world to spin; life usually has a way of tossing us over ruthlessly. But while spiraling down the deep dark hole that may seem endless and impossible to escape from, we must remember, there always is light at the end of the tunnel! It’s when we are tested hard, we are able to rise, push through, and come out stronger, braver, and better. Not to forget the valuable life lessons we get to learn when the going gets really tough!
Tough times reveal our true friends, the people to whom we genuinely matter. It's an unfortunate and often time brutal truth that the friends/loved ones we think will be there no matter what, are sometimes the first to leave. The realization that the ones we love do not even consider us worthy of their time or energy can definitely knock us off balance but we need to be grateful to them for helping us clear out the emotional space for the ones who stand by us through thick & thin. Those who truly care will grab us, hold us, hug us, shake us, and even fight with us but never give up on us! Period. Going through difficult times has a unique way of trimming off fake friends.
Nothing builds our strength like surviving difficulty. Nothing forces us to leverage what we have, dig deep, and come up with every ounce of integrity, patience, and strength like hard times. Sometimes it can be a challenge to find the motivation to channel our inner strength in order to persevere through difficult times but as Khalil Gibran says -
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
Tough times help us clear our minds and refresh our perspectives. After a difficult time, we understand to worry less about the inconsequential little things because we are able to clearly see the unmovable pieces that really matter, that we need to take a bit better care of, and love even more for being unmovable. Surviving hardship gives us a clearer perspective on what truly matters. It helps us develop an attitude of gratitude like nothing else and teaches us to never take anything for granted.
To find the light, we have to go through the darkness and while we’re in the midst of it, we should just be thankful that the lessons that life teaches us may be the toughest but are the most valuable ones.
If not for these tough times, we would never know - what matters, who matters, how strong we are, and how lucky we are to exist.
