Sounds like the back of a fortune cookie doesn't it? I promise it's not! I've often pondered the thought of what the purpose is for all these struggles we face each day are. Sure, there's times when everything just flows nice and smooth and everything seems to be going just like an orchestrated event.
However, more times than not, for me anyway, life is like one big bumpy road with missiles firing at me from each and every direction. It's a challenge most days. Can I just be real and honest for a moment? Seriously, I can plan and prepare to the best of my ability. Even have a backup plan to my BACKUP plan and still, there's always one or two things that seem to catch me off guard and bring my entire day, week or even life to a halt. Sometimes we just can't plan for everything.
Life is the best pitcher I've ever saw when it comes to baseball. It can throw a curve ball and a fast ball all in one sling! I swing, most the time I miss but most the time the ball hits me right in the proverbial face. What to do now? Where to go from here? How to get back on track? It's a daunting thought. But I supposed, if I were to change the way I look at things, then maybe the things I look at will change.
I would submit to you this one thought to think on this week: What a fool calls a stumbling block, a wise man calls a stepping stone. In other words, how can I take what is currently happening in my situation and use it for a stepping stone to propel myself forward instead of being crushed by it? How can I use this situation to become a better person? To become a stronger person? I truly believe that growing our character is equivocally connected to success in life.
What I do in the secret says more about me than what I do in the light does. How can I use what is happening in my life today (the truck and car mechanical problems, the lack of funds to fix them, the gas shortage, the job situation, the crazy neighbor who doesn't like me, that person who gossips about me all the time) how can I take these things and use them to my advantage instead of letting them make me bitter?
That's my question for you this week. I pray and hope you can search deep and find an honest answer. It may take some time, but choose growth. No matter how hard the struggle is. Choose to become better, not bitter!
Until next time,
-Mitchall Smith