Joys and challenges.

Hey everyone. I’m Sherry Douglas with Heart-Song. As you and I have experienced life, we know there are ups and downs and joys and challenges.

A challenge for you may be a health issue, consistent butting up against a co-worker or boss, a child that knows how to push your buttons, or financial difficulties. What is a challenge for me may not be a challenge for you and vice versa – even in the same circumstance. We’re unique in the way we live life as well as those life issues that stretch us beyond anything we can imagine. Have you thought about whether we can truly appreciate the times of joy in life without the challenges of life? Can we grasp and value the times of well-being if we haven’t experienced conflict or problems?

A quote by Helen Keller added to my thoughts about joy. She said, “We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.” If anyone can truly know about being brave and patient, it’s Helen Keller. She was blind and deaf, yet became an author and educator, and cofounded the American Civil Liberties Union. Obviously, her life was dealing with severe difficulties, yet she understood that her courage and patience were formed because of them. If we only experienced joy, what positive character traits would not be formed in us? Would we be brave? Would we be patient, kind, or compassionate? Life has trials and triumphs, but the trials bring added depth that the triumphs cannot bring alone.

This next week, let’s each name one problem we’re facing and seek to understand what is being formed inside of us because of it. Trials are tough, and we can get lost in the sludge of them, but if we seek to grow through them, we may also find joy, either in the midst or when we get to the other side.

Live the way you want to be remembered.