The courage to still be standing

“Maybe we’re not supposed to be happy. Maybe gratitude has nothing to do with joy. Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes simply to be human. Maybe we’re thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe we’re thankful for the things we’ll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.” -Grays Anatomy

Struggle is a part of life, and at times it seems like it IS life….everything crashes down at once and you wonder where the path is that will eventually lead you out of the mess you find yourself in. Itleast that has been my experience. What is funny is that right when it seems like I have life firgured out, things settle down, and I have adjusted to a change or solution to a problem…wham! Something else is bound to hit me. And this is life, a series of sturggles and triumphs that we learn and grow from. We have to rely on others and our faith to give us the courage to keep going.

The crazy thing is as much as the hard times seem to drown me in the moment, looking back on that time I see the happy moments and victories along the way. The moments with friends that made me laugh in between tears, the struggles that helped build relationships…and the crazy adventures that occur when all sanity is lost due to the stresses of the world. The struggles are what make happiness feel so great, and happiness is what allows us to go through and come out of struggle. Without one we could not have the other.

Life’s obstacles can seem daunting when looking at an end goal…and in reality, there is no end. Every goal I have pursued and am working towards now will never be complete because I will never be complete. So waiting for a victory that only comes with the completion of a large goal will ultimately never come and we will be left feeling incomplete. But how about the small vicorties each day brings, the personal improvements, moments of growth, or willinginess to change ourselves for the better, one small step at a time.

The only way to survive the hard times is to look at the good within it, and see the small steps that take us miles down the road and develop us into who we are made to be. Each day has a small victory, and throughout my life there is not a single day I can think of that didn’t have a moment of joy in it- a smile from a friend, the sun shinning, or falling down the stairs and laughing about it.

those moments are what keep me standing at the end of each day.

Tonight as I lay restless in bed, unable to sleep with the worries that fill my mind- I am left with the courage to stand tomorrow. Because today I laughed with friends, I took a step forward toward a goal, and simply got out of bed and decided I would try again to conquer the changes and difficulties that are surrounding me. Whatever life throws at me, no matter how hopeless it seems, I will be standing with the victories and joys of the days as my backbone. Life is joyful…amongst the pain, and challenges it brings, life is joyful.

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