Some troubles arrive by invitation.
Others kick the door in.
But if the thing had its chance to finish you…
and you are still standing…
PAUSE.
The score may already be in your favor.
All throughout history, mankind has come against some formidable circumstances.
Wars.
Losses.
Failures.
Disease.
Economic hardship.
Broken plans.
Personal disasters.
Some challenges we knowingly walk toward because gain requires risk.
Others?
They show up without invitation.
No appointment.
No warning.
No courtesy call.
LOL.
And yet, when handled correctly, these difficult circumstances can eventually produce perseverance, wisdom, strength and a deeper understanding of what is actually inside us.
The experience will be different for every one of us.
But difficulty has an interesting habit.
It introduces you to parts of yourself you may never have met otherwise.
CHALLENGES ARE GROWTH FOOD
People are not necessarily born great.
They LIVE great.
Abraham Lincoln did not enter the presidency expecting an easy assignment. He faced an extraordinary national crisis and knew difficult decisions were ahead.
Joy had to sit on the back burner for a while.
There was work to do.
That is what difficulty sometimes demands.
ROLL UP THE SLEEVES.
When a serious circumstance presents itself, there comes a moment when complaining has completed its usefulness.
Now what?
You rise to the occasion.
Not because you feel fearless.
Not because you know every answer.
But because the occasion has arrived and somebody has to meet it.
Difficulty can shrink us…
or reveal us.
LAND OF OPPORTUNITY
As we travel through life, most of us expect things to go reasonably well.
We plan.
Prepare.
Save.
Work.
Dream.
And here in America, liberty gives people tremendous room to think, create, build and change direction.
Wonderful.
But even in a land of opportunity, the best-laid plans can crash.
The business fails.
The relationship ends.
The opportunity disappears.
The money runs out.
Something unexpected happens and suddenly the life we thought we were steering starts steering US.
Some of those episodes can shake a person but good.
That is worth remembering when you see the next person walking past you.
They may look fine.
They may be fighting the battle of their life.
Be kind.
OUTLIVE YOUR PROBLEM
There are trials where words eventually stop helping.
You can read the sayings.
Listen to advice.
Repeat affirmations.
Fine.
Then comes the raw arena.
Now you have to LIVE IT OUT.
Day after day.
Step after step.
You outlast the thing.
That is perseverance in its working clothes.
Sometimes the victory is not defeating the problem immediately.
Sometimes the victory is simply refusing to disappear before the problem does.
PAUSE.
OUTLIVE IT.
You may not know how everything will resolve.
You may not know what waits around the corner.
But while you remain here…
possibility remains here too.
SURRENDER?
There are times when something negative arrives looking ten feet tall.
A GIANT.
It seems capable of winning before the fight even starts.
I disagree.
I may acknowledge it.
Respect its seriousness.
Study it.
Give it time.
Seek help.
Change strategy.
But I will not hand it victory merely because it showed up.
NO.
It has to earn whatever ground it takes.
Do not surrender your entire life to one terrible chapter.
The chapter may be real.
It may be painful.
But it is still not the whole book.
HOOPS…THEY DEVELOP THE SENSES
Obstacles make us navigate.
And navigation develops something.
Judgment.
Patience.
Awareness.
Creativity.
Endurance.
Humility.
Resourcefulness.
Sometimes you discover strengths because life gave you no choice but to use them.
That is your SKILLS BANK being called into emergency service.
LOL.
You reach down into yourself and start pulling out resources.
Some you recognize.
Some you did not even know were there.
A difficult circumstance may not have been invited…
but the growth that follows can still belong to you.
I SENTENCE YOU TO LIFE…LIVING IT, THAT IS
Every human being eventually reaches the same final destination.
That is not gloomy.
That is reality.
Between now and then…
you are sentenced to LIFE.
So LIVE IT.
Death will come soon enough without our volunteering early.
While there is breath…
there is possibility.
Another conversation.
Another sunrise.
Another attempt.
Another solution.
Another person.
Another direction.
Another chance.
Life needs participation.
And as long as you are participating…
the story is still being written.
WHAT’S THE SCORE?
Next time you feel low…
overwhelmed…
discouraged…
or convinced that something has beaten you…
look at one simple fact.
YOU ARE STILL HERE.
Whatever happened…
whatever came against you…
whatever tried to knock you flat…
you are reading this.
It had its chance.
And apparently…
it did not finish the job.
LOL.
If I am keeping score…
YOU JUST GOT A POINT.
RICHIE SPEAKS
Here is one Richie rule:
Do not declare the opponent the winner while you are still standing.
And another:
Some victories do not look like trophies.
Sometimes victory looks like getting out of bed and saying:
“NOT TODAY.”
LOL.
PEARLS FROM THE BOOKS
From the spirit of Pearls for the Soul:
“The obstacle may reveal what comfort never had reason to ask from you.”
From the spirit of It Is Finished:
“What has passed through your life does not automatically receive permission to remain in control of it.”
From the spirit of God I AM:
“Life continues to call while breath remains to answer.”
PEARLS INSIGHT
Resilience is not pretending painful circumstances are easy.
It is the ability to remain engaged, adapt, seek help, learn, recover and continue despite them.
Difficult experiences can expose weaknesses…
but they can also uncover strengths that ordinary circumstances never required us to use.
PEARLS CONNECTION
This connects directly with STRESS CAN HELP OR HINDER.
Pressure can damage us when held improperly…
but it can also produce adaptation and strength when handled wisely.
It also connects with SKILLS BANK.
Sometimes we do not discover what is stored inside us until life makes a withdrawal.
And THE PROBLEMS OF LIFE ARE ALL GOOD reminds us that the existence of a problem does not cancel the larger gift of still being alive to face it.
FINAL SAY
What doesn’t kill you had its chance.
That does not mean every hardship automatically makes somebody stronger.
Some things hurt deeply and require time, support and healing.
But if you are still here…
the circumstance does not get the final word yet.
You do.
Keep living.
Keep learning.
Keep adjusting.
Keep asking for help when needed.
Keep pulling from the resources inside you.
And when the giant asks whether you surrender…
tell him to check the scoreboard.
You are still standing.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you