Everyone goes through rough patches in life - a day, a month, a year. Many people go through a difficult time with one goal: “ I have to get through this. This will end.” That seems like the healthy thing to say, right? Wrong!
Getting through a tragedy, a heartbreak, or tough event is not the point of that difficult time. “Getting through” any situation is not living, it's existing. We are all exposed to harsh times, losses, tragedies but it's how we handle those experiences that show us who we really are.
I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason. Recently I was going through a hard time and I wanted to just “get through it” until one day someone said to me that this hard time could be a gift. When I opened myself up to the idea that the universe was not punishing me but perhaps rewarding me, everything turned around. Life was not something I had to do, it was something I was learning from.
Doing life is easy, but living life takes a conscious effort to face your fears, accept challenges, actually take the time to embrace those experiences that test you.
Without challenging times in our life we don't grow. Life happens so fast and if you are not present, fully alert with an open heart as often as you can, who knows what you will be missing out on.
During the past school year I endured a crater-sized amount of emotional pain but I decided to take that pain and learn from it. I was awake. I was aware. I had my heart open. And most importantly I was ready to learn and grow. What I thought was the universe punishing me turned out to be the biggest gift I could have ever asked for. I will never be the person I was before and I am glad.
I also found it's important to not get too much in your head when dealing with life experiences. Remember how your teacher used to say “Leave the drama at the door.” I'm suggesting just that. When you go to work, or the gym, don't worry about the huge amount of stress you're under at work. Be present. Notice people. Perhaps compliment someone's shirt. Do or say something that you would not be able to do if you were not present in the moment.
Take a look at when you think you're going through a hard time in your life. Are you distracted by things such as your phone? or Facebook? or keeping up appearances? Try to take the time to see if there's a lesson to be learned. Could this problem actually be a gift that you are overlooking? When a great moment learning moment happens, instead of appreciating it and living in the moment you may be thinking about how you're going to tweet about it, or snapchat about it. Take the time to stop and really look at the situation. Realize that every experience we go through has a lesson that can be learned from it and if you're not too busy “just trying to get through it” you may be able to find the lesson and you might find it's actually the greatest gift of all.
In 10 years I want to be able to tell my kids about my college experiences, but how would I do that if my memories consist of social media posts rather then me living in the moment.
Tomorrow when you open your eyes and wake up, you decide what that day will consist of. All I'm saying is rather then be closed off be it emotionally or literally why don't you stop and look around, live in the moment. The view may just surprise you.
