The first word stops us, doesn't it? Everyday struggles.
Life is full of things (and people) that get in the way of easy days and a trouble-free life. What matters most is how we label our experiences--in the moment or years later--and that's up to us.
Take hardship, for example. At any age or stage of life, hardship is real--and it's hard. Some who experienced it seem unable to move past an inability to cope with the ordinary ups and downs of living. Others, endowed with a different temperament, take their hardship and grow stronger. For them, being stretched to the max again and again worked the ability to persevere, whatever the circumstance.
Privilege is real, too. Some build on it and use it as the starter for what they later accomplish as individuals. Others who were born into privilege--or got there by their own efforts--morph into adults who lack ambition and see themselves as always-blameless in a blaming world.
Any time spent watching daytime TV makes it obvious that one's status and position can impair one's vision. This is old news. Poet Robert Burns who lived in the 1700s makes that clear:
"Oh would some power the giftie gie us, To see ourselves as others see us."
The question is, how will we view our lives?
Many individuals acclaimed as heroes and people of strength grew up in humble circumstances. President Abraham Lincoln always leads my list. He came from a poor family and lacked the advantages so often considered essential to success.
Rather than lean on that as an excuse, Lincoln learned from it. Later he summed up a foundational truth of mental health using his customary simple words:
"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."
It's humbling to think of it that way, isn't it? His words imply that each of us wields at least some power over our happiness, even if we lack resources and haven't had a break in forever.
What's more, we alone pronounce ourselves either happy and content or miserable and hopeless.
That last truth hit me with new force when I read this line from Author Paul David Tripp:
"No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do." --New Morning Mercies.
The root issue: What are we aiming for?
Often it is not what first appears obvious.
Think of news reports that feature individuals whom we might think were born into or in some way came to be endowed with many advantages in their life. That would inspire gratitude in them, right?
Not necessarily. Sometimes these folks tell another story. They judge people around them--even those who showed love and care for them--to be unsupportive--and they won't let it go. They lash out with words and actions that reveal their mindset to be, "Get even" and "Hurt them more than they hurt me."
Few among us would consider this a good way to restore relationships or make a fresh start. Before we get to feeling superior we need to ask ourselves, "What about us? How do we handle our wounds and our woes?"
The late Viktor Frankl lost everything and everyone he loved in the Holocaust, yet he forged an enduring response to that question while imprisoned. He credited this mindset with enabling him to survive that Nazi hell-hole:
"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."
Frankl's strength came from realizing that whoever we are and whatever our life may be, we still retain absolute power over how we view it.
Timothy Keller, a Christian pastor, recently stated the same truth:
"What determines whether you enjoy your life is not a particular set of circumstances--though you should change evil circumstances if you can--but ultimately it is how the heart responds with them."
The point is ...
We're not meant to live our lives governed by what has happened to us or what is happening in our lives or even what may come in the future. Struggles of one kind or another pop up and recur in everyone's life. It's how we deal with them that makes the difference.
Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. --Author Carl Bard
We're not the first and we will not be the last to face everyday struggles. That makes it wise to get our minds in gear and be ready to counter discouragement with lasting truth.
For starters, here are some Bible promises I keep going back to. I pray they will speak to your heart, too.
No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you through it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 The Message
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10 ESV
[Jesus said] "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." John 16:33
Dear Reader, may you know His peace in whatever comes,
Lenore
