It's Part of the Poetry

I've been listening to the song "Rise" by A Skylit Drive over and over again this week. (Please note, if you are offended by certain four-letter words, you may not want to add this to your playlist.) It doesn't belong in my top ten list or anything, but two lines caught my attention and I've been chewing on them all week. The chorus starts like this: "Do not pray for an easy life, search for the strength to walk the line."  

Wait, what? Don't wish for an easy life? That doesn't make any sense. We want things to be easy. We feel good when we get the things that we want, and I think most of us would prefer that this happen with as little work as possible. Or with just enough effort for us to feel like we deserved the reward. Even if we are talking about non-material desires like finding a relationship or figuring out what to do with our lives, most of us would like to have the answer just handed over to us. 

I have been very fortunate in my life, and I do try to be mindful of this. While I've had to work hard for certain things that I've wanted, those were the exceptions to the rule. A year ago I was coasting along as usual, happy with my job, my husband, my dog, my house. Stability felt good. Easy felt good. Then the rug was pulled out from under me, and no matter what I did I couldn't find the ground under my feet. For maybe the first time in my life, I was challenged beyond anything I thought I could accomplish. How would I make it through the day? How would I move forward?

It did not take me long to discover just how powerful it is to struggle and how much I can learn from the messy process. In the past few months, I have uncovered strength that I didn't know I possessed. I have become more compassionate than I thought I could be. I have unleashed creativity and passion that was hidden from my view. I wish it wouldn't have taken such a painful event for me to learn these things about myself, but it seems I needed a really big push to break out of my comfort zone. My struggles and failures have helped me to be more true to myself, and for that I am extremely grateful. 

Does this mean I don't want things to come easy to me anymore? Not necessarily. Easy can still be good sometimes! But I'm going to grow a lot more when the path is rocky, and I'm not going to be so afraid of the bumps.