We don’t give ourselves enough credit sometimes. I was reminded of this myself while advising a friend. She looked a bit down, almost like she had been crying. Because I know her as someone with immense faith and a “keep it moving” attitude. I figured this had to be big. She barely shows emotion when going through tough times (which isn’t always healthy). During the ensuing conversation, I had to remind her, and subsequently myself, of who we as human beings are. There is neither a template nor script for some of the things we have gotten ourselves out of or had to go through in this life, but still, we did overcome.
Yes, religious books give us somewhat of a guide as to how we should be and live, but the message is vague and we basically had to decipher a lot and figure things out as we go. They don’t teach you about many of the things we go through nor about skills and attributes you may need to cope with everyday struggles of life – one example being emotional intelligence. Many of these books were also written for a different time and generation, and since the world is ever changing and ever evolving, we’ve had to adapt and adjust the way we think and live in order to survive, but survive we do.
As the years have gone by, and times and things have changed, we have done pretty well adjusting and overcoming adversity because here we still are – fighting the good fight. We have been teaching ourselves how to live life, as we live it. In addition, we never stop being students in the class called life. There are many things we’ve already overcome, yet we’re so quick to lose faith in ourselves as soon as things go left. We get into a negative zone and the problems become the be-all, end-all. There is no life without problems; let’s stop the inevitable from sometimes breaking us to points of no return. If you’re closed off or shut down, how are you able to see any possible solutions?
We have already proven to ourselves that we can and will get ourselves out of so much, we just have to trust ourselves enough as we continue on this journey. Trust yourself enough during times when things don’t go your way and trust that you will get yourself out of whatever you are going through right now, and whatever you will be going through in the future. You have done it before. Sometimes we just need a little patience for the season to pass. In those moments, push a little harder because you can. Get up, show up and give it another shot. Then be patient, for your next win could be just around the corner.
• Paula Christoph’s column concentrates on positive and inspirational write-ups every second Friday in the New Era newspaper.