The best journeys, the most memorable journeys, the ones worth taking, are filled with challenge, not just adventure. They can make you cry, make you wish you had never set off from the safety of home. But they will also most definitely make you smile, make you learn, make you grow. And it is through growth that anything can flower into beauty.
When I think about all the different challenges that I’ve been able to overcome, my heart fills with gratitude. Leaving my home country, watching its economy and institutions crumble, knowing that people I love are either still there witnessing it all first hand or scattered around the world, it makes the sweet memories from my childhood all the more sacred.
I recently read in a book that if we were to take away all the pain that a tragic event may bring into our life (be it the death of a loved one, the loss of something important, an impairing accident, or what have you), then we would also have to take away all the love and beauty and joy we experienced because of them. Because simply put, the pain of missing is only there because we loved.
Isn’t that such a beautiful thought? I know it is hard when we are going through the trenches of life, trenches that sometimes arrive without warning and through no fault of our own. But I also know that if I had the power to remove all the hardships I’ve lived through and witnessed, I wouldn’t, because they haven’t only made me who I am today, but have also brought new people to love and opportunities of growth into my life that I would otherwise have missed.
Life isn’t meant to be perfect. It is meant to be hard, and beautiful, and exquisitely human. It is a journey, the best and most memorable journey, the one worth taking.
What helps you endure the challenges of life?
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M.C. Muhlenkamp 