Life is difficult…

“Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it- then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”

This is from the opening page of ‘The Road Less Travelled’ by M. Scott Peck, a psychiatrist, writer and spiritual guide. I remember reading these words for the first time and feeling my body relax inside.

When we experience challenges, it can be tempting to believe there is something wrong with us because life feels hard, whilst others suffer less and have somehow found the key to a happy, contented life.

When I stopped waiting for the time when everything was going well and life looked the way I thought it should, my struggles became less painful. I no longer expected life to be easy and began to approach it as a series of problems to be overcome. In working through these problems and summoning the courage to do so, we can find growth and meaning. By facing the pain of our problems rather than moving away from it, we can find healing. This is not to say that any of this is easy, but it can ultimately be deeply worthwhile.