Writing Prompt:

What experiences in life helped you grow the most?

I came here tonight to write about WAVES, but saw the daily writing prompt and decided to hammer out WAVES another day…because this prompt is too good.

The experiences in life that have helped me grow the most have been the HARD ONES!

Every time.

Every damned time.

It’s almost like that saying “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” might have some truth to it.

Hard times (loss of a loved one, personal struggles, business struggles, etc) have all been such learning and growing times for me. Having your life upturned has that effect on a person. Mainly, it gave me perspective – because we all get bogged down in the day-to-day crap and think THAT is what matters. Then something shakes you to your core and you realize the day-to-day crap is just CRAP. The people (and experiences with those people) in your life is what matters WAY more than the stuff we find ourselves focused on. I’ve often heard that “lesson” in that you can drop dead and the people that you love will forever be changed and miss you while work will just replace you with another person. It’s easy to fall into that routine of spending a lot of your focus on your job and miss out on time with the PEOPLE who really matter.

Here’s where I struggle…DURING the hard times, it’s really hard for me to remember that IN that experience will likely come growth and learning. During a hard time I wonder why I’m being punished, what I did to deserve such hardship, or other equally unhelpful thoughts. I need to remember that old advice – everything happens for a reason, and sometimes it’s some time before we know the reason.

That is such simple, true, and relevant advice…and yet in the midst of a hard time I struggle with remembering that perhaps this trouble is leading me to something better. I struggle with remembering that the trouble may help me to grow, to learn, and to gain fresh perspective.

So, if you’re facing a hard time, just remember that many people find personal growth out of that difficulty. Keep putting one foot in front of the other, do what you can every day, and remember that life is constantly changing and evolving, so this hard time will NOT last forever. Reach out to your people. Accept help from others. Do something to help someone else. That’s always helpful to me in situations when I feel helpless – help someone else. There’s some sense of peace and calm from helping another person when you feel like you can’t even help yourself. You’ll be reminded of the qualities that you have that have gotten you this far. You may dig deeper into those and push a bit harder on in the trudge through this hard time.