"Hey, just look on the bright side,” is much easier said than done. When going through a tough time, you tend to ask yourself, "why me," and, "when will it be over?" There are no definite answers to those questions, and I don't think there ever will be. It's easy to drown yourself in every explanation as to why you're going through this pain. You dig so deep looking for answers that you begin to feel numb and hopeless. Sometimes you feel like there is no way out, and you're trapped in this permanent dread. I've felt like this way too often. These thoughts swallow me whole and I suddenly realize I'm not the same happy person I was yesterday. So I ask myself, "how do I fix this, how do I go back to the beginning?" My thought process works like this: everything happens for a reason, and it truly does.
There is an effect to every cause. There is a reason why you were late to work this morning, or why you failed that history exam last week. Maybe if you left your house five minutes earlier, you would've been a part of that accident that caused all that traffic this morning. Maybe failing that exam made you realize you have to study more, and it's pushing you to better yourself. Those situations are much easier to justify their causes for ruining your day. But, when losing a loved one to cancer or getting your heart broken, it’s not as easy.
When my mom passed away, I blamed myself. I blamed the world, and letting my head sink into my tear-soaked pillow was much easier than trying to find the good in it all. When I finally was able to pick myself up, I heard my mom's voice in my head telling me, "Life is too short to be anything but happy." That's when I realized the greatest gift my mom ever gave me, it was opening my eyes to how beautiful and temporary life really is. Even though I would do anything to have her here with me, I know she's resting peacefully somewhere and that will never change. I couldn't find the good right away, but when I did, it changed my perspective on my everyday life. It's not always going to be easy. If it was, life wouldn't be the mystery that it is. I don't have all the answers, and frankly, I don't want them either.
But I know this: everything happens for a reason. There will always be a light in the darkness. Sometimes it's easy to find, other times it's not. But it's there, and if you believe that, you'll be able to jump every hurdle that comes your way. You just have to believe, and be brave enough to switch the light on.
