The Miracle of Unwanted Blessings

Have you noticed how college is the one time in life where we try to get as LITTLE for our money as possible? We carefully find the easiest classes and endlessly moan and lament every inch of work our professors try to burden us with. Here we are in this amazing institution of learning, but we can't stop our desire to be comfortable from constantly trying to strangle our desire to learn and grow and become amazing and powerful.

But we're even worse when it comes to being students in the school of life. We're not here on earth to be comfortable. We're here to learn and grow and become powerful--and help the folks around us do the same. And yet we can't stop praying and pleading to be comfortable. We're terrified of losing anything or anyone; and we're obsessed with not suffering or stretching. We hunger for courage, patience, love and serenity, yet we literally and constantly pray for the removal of the very things that create them! 

Beyond that, we often stake our our very belief in God on whether or not he removes the critical growing opportunities that we came down here to get. We're basketball players that plead to never play an opposing team or shoot anything harder than a layup--if we ever even get off the bench. 

At least that's how I usually am. I absolutely want everything in in life to be settled. All the time. I don't want it too hot or too cold. I want life to be engaging, but never scary. And I certainly don't ever want to fail or struggle or worry or hurt. Like, ever. I'm constantly SO frustrated when things go wrong. Why am I surprised and thrown off EVERY TIME something goes wrong? Ridiculous.

First of all, I should finally be smart enough to expect difficulties. And possibly I can finally become wise enough to be grateful for them. Have you ever met someone that hasn't struggled and suffered in life? That's just won everything and had life easy? Man, they're jerks. But have you ever met someone that has genuinely suffered and experienced tremendous loss and pain? (and didn't get crushed by it?) Man, they're awesome. 

So shouldn't I actually be grateful when things fall apart? I mean, when I can finally add some extra weigh to the bench press, I'm psyched at the growth it represents. Why can't I see the same growth opportunities when life gets heavy, when I fail, when I struggle, when I lose. I'm learning to thank God even for the bad things--but I don't really mean it. Not yet anyway. But I should.

Is it possible to appreciate those "character building" losses and struggles and failures enough to stop getting freaked out by them? I mean, doesn't winning a whole new level of patience, humility, courage or faith justify a celebration rather than a pity party? Why can't we see more clearly the solid blessings that only the hard, uncomfortable struggles and failures in life can bring?

I mean, if I can encounter enough difficulty with faith and gratitude and love, I'll eventually become invincible! And every challenge I hit will bring me closer to that. Yes it's hard. And uncomfortable. So's the Super Bowl. But you don't run from it. You've got to learn to embrace and relish the challenges, see them as opportunities to grow and learn and expand the most precious attributes you could possibly possess.

And once you do that, there will be no more bad things in life. Instead of being crushed by mountains you'll be climbing them. Instead of drowning you'll be swimming or white-water rafting. Instead of being crushed you'll be lifting weights. You'll have totally beat the system and the rest of existence will be stellar. 

And it's not just optimism--and it's something in addition to faith. That's important to notice. It's a genuine recognition of the precious side-benefits of difficulty and loss that for some reason we don't normally value. In the long run, the potential character benefits of our struggles easily outweigh the comfort and acclaim we get from our victories. So let's start noticing that, and celebrating that, more. It's why we're here in the first place!

Don't look for them. Don't ask for them. Life's going to be plenty hard without any help from you. But DO value and appreciate what they bring. Find the hidden treasures, those rich, miraculous gifts that are always embedded in the heart of the unwanted blessings in our lives. There's serenity in the wilderness, beauty in the fiery furnace, and balance in the precariousness of life.