Struggles are part of the growing experience in life. Having gone through times of banging my head against the wall as to why things are not going my way or why things just work out for others – I have experimented and looked back at moments in my life to come up with 5 personal truths about struggle that I live by.
The definition of a struggle varies from person to person. Some may say a struggle is an obstacle in your way from doing something. Others may say it is a mental roadblock that they can’t get over. Sometimes struggles can be with specific people such as a boss, parent, friend, or significant other. In others, a struggle may be some hardship you have felt such as losing a job or losing a loved one.
I simply define struggle as an obstacle that is in our way that we physically or mentally want to overcome. Here are my personal truths about struggle. Some of these may be so obvious, others not so – here goes!
Truth 1: Every life has a moment of struggle. There is no easy way around this – life is designed around a series of obstacles. There are going to be good times but get ready for the bad. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Don’t get too comfortable. If things are good at work, there may be trouble at home and vice versa. If things are good at home, your health may be a mess and vice versa. The road to where you are intended to go will never be a straight-path. In fact, the curved path is the one to give you the most optimal results as each bend will teach you where make adjustments and guide you to change course as necessary.
Truth 2: Struggles are never your fault. Any predicament you are in that you are trying to overcome is not there because of you. Struggles come unexpectedly. Yes, we can talk about karma and what action you sow, you reap – but this is beyond that. Events in life are never planned. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Some of you may lose a job, home, etc. We can’t control nature. We can’t control the weather. Stop beating yourself up for the predicament you are in. Things change – sometimes it takes a bit longer than expected – but things do change.
Truth 3: All struggles are temporary. It’s only our mindset that elongates the time-frame by which we struggle. In many cases a change of environment may not help you get over the hump – it will be how quickly your mind will get over it. Positive actions, words, and thoughts are what will get you out of your struggles quickly. If you don’t have money you will find a job to earn money in time. If you are having trouble making friends, you will make friends in time. The only thing you have in your control is the power to create. Bottom line of truth: any small form of positive action against a struggle is a giant-step to overcome it.
Truth 4: A struggle is not a reason to fight with others or yourself. Yes, you can hide under the cover of drugs, alcohol, and antidepressants, but these are not cures for your state of being. Yes, you can pick up gun and take it out on the world, but this is one of the most foolish actions you can take that actually creates more pain within you – it’s like spitting against the wind. Struggles must be accepted. You take the first step to overcome struggle by surrendering your ego and acknowledging the issue. You next develop an action plan to figure out how to get yourself out of a situation. Third, execute the plan. Keep guns, knives and ill-thoughts all out of the plan. Don’t fight back against humanity. You will have better results identifying your own personal pain-points and defeating what lies within rather than taking it out on the world.
Truth 5: Struggle is life-education. You need to experience what you can’t have. You need to experience not having someone or something around. You need to experience failure. You need to experience the false perception of an imperfect life. In all aspects of life – socially, sexually, psychologically, familial – there will be struggle. As long as we interact with others there will be struggle. To achieve anything in life you need to struggle through it – but learn from it. It’s impossible to gain wisdom or knowledge without struggling. Here is one amazing truth to our existence: we all survive. Keep this in mind and realize that you will survive the storm. Learn from all obstacles placed in your way but realize you don’t need to jump high to overcome them.