Growing Pains
There is a process that a person goes through for the sake of personal growth and development. Regardless of whether or not you are aware of the process, the process is happening within you and everyone and everything in your life is in on it; your family, neighbors, friends, co-workers and all of the other miscellaneous people and things that cross your path, are a part of your process. Your experiences with them, how you relate to them, how you treat them and vice versa are all shaping your character as well as your perspective on life.
Sometimes this process of growth and development brings a little friend along called growing pains. You’ve met him haven’t you? You know, you’re living your life, minding your business (or not) and all of the sudden you are being faced with a challenge. Well, maybe challenge is too nice of a word. How about all hell breaks loose in your life and you don’t know what to do because you’ve never experienced such pain.
Have you ever experienced a painful situation that ended up making you wiser and stronger? If you have, then you made a decision to turn your sorrows into a learning experience. Many times, we don’t. Many times, we allow negative things that we go through to cause us to become bitter, angry, depressed or violent. Pain and sorrow will always be a part of the human experience and it’s not such a bad thing. I’ve found that it is my most painful experiences in life that are the most transforming. If you allow it, deeply painful situations can bring the best out of you or it can bring out the worst. We can choose to become a better person as a result of our negative experiences, or we can choose to become a worse person. You may not be able to change the present circumstance, but you do have the power to change how you see it. And if you see it as an opportunity to learn and grow as a person, you will get so much more out of the experience.
Sometimes when we are in the process of becoming, one or several aspects of our lives can fall apart. Whether all hell as broken loose in your finances or your relationship is coming to an end, painfully disturbing situations can cause us to become. Now what you become is up to you. There are many ways to look at our experiences. I believe that it is during these trying times that the content of your character is being refined. As you go through your midnight hour, as they say, keep your mind focused on the positive byproducts of these difficult times. Look for ways in which you can learn from the experiences. There are always two sides to a coin right? On one side, things feel uncomfortable and maybe even hopeless. This is usually what we feel and see while we’re going through something terrible. But the flip side of that coin is the beauty of the molding and shaping that is happening to you while you’re going through it. Keep the coin on the learning side and watch your growing pains turn into sunny days! -love, sj
