We all have our fair share of obstacles that we will face and overcome in our lifetimes. For some people, these obstacles will arise back to back. And for most people, these obstacles will arise before we are ready to deal with them. Often times, people stumble and fall when faced with problems that seem larger than life. And when we make mistakes as we are trying to find our way in the world, we tend to hang our heads in shame. We tend to get so caught up in all the negative aspects of our lives that we fail to see how far we’ve come or how much we’ve grown. Unfortunately, most people believe that life is defeating them when it seems like nothing is going their way. But the thing about life is that for every obstacle, there is a greater success story and moment of triumph. For every single tear, there are thousand of moments of laughter. And despite popular belief, all those tears are just as important as every last little giggle.

Think about the most well-rounded person you know. Chances are that person has faced and overcome a lot in his or her lifetime--and that they are a better person for it. Of course, no one wants to struggle. No one wants to have problems or to suffer, but the truth is that we all do. We all have secrets and we all bury skeletons in our closet, often because we are ashamed of the obstacles we have faced and the ways that we have dealt with them. But hiding the things that we go through will not change the fact that we did go through them. We did hurt, and we did struggle, but we did overcome. We did make it out on the other side. And at the end of the day, we are not defined by the things that happen to us. We are defined by how much we learn and grow from them.

So the next time life kicks you down, or you stumble and fall on your own, do not dwell on it. Do not get so caught up in everything that’s going wrong that you fail to see how much better of a person you’ve become as a result. People are not meant to be perfect. We are meant to be flawed. And the sooner we embrace the fact that no matter how hard we try, we can’t prevent the universe from knocking us down, the closer we get to realizing how important even our worst moments in life are. Because it is in the worst moments of our lives that we discover the best parts of ourselves. And that makes even the greatest of obstacles worth it in the long run.