Struggle Is Normal

Struggle is normal

Tim Connor

You might think the title of this article is negative or at a minimum out of touch or even stupid.  Well, you may be right but I have not met anyone in my life that hasn’t experienced struggle at some point in their life so from my perspective that makes it normal.  Desired?  No. Hard to handle or overcome?  Yes. Necessary?  It depends.  But normal – read on.

Struggle - a great effort made over a period of time to overcome difficulties or achieve something.

Mine – Opportunities to grow, learn, gain wisdom, change or redefine some aspect of life.

You may not like my definition but consider – when something comes into your life that you didn’t expect or don’t want you always have a choice – you can whine, complain, resist, deny or you can say thank you for the opportunity to gain a new perspective, mature, let go of mindsets that are counterproductive or just accept life as it is and deal with it.

It is not my intent to belittle people who deal with horrific circumstances that they don’t deserve – chaos due to the ravages of nature, death due to the evil of other people or bad timing or something as common as someone stealing your identity but the truth is all of these happen every day to millions of people around the world.

What matters in the end is not the event or circumstance but your reaction or response to it and how it impacts the remainder of your life.

It is impossible to discuss the topic of struggle without bringing God into the discussion.  During the past few years I have read over 100 books dealing with struggle and why does God allow it in our lives.  I am not going to try and validate, defend or deny any of the philosophies I have learned but rather just give you my perspective.  However, if you are not a believer in God I’m confident you will stop reading here – your choice – not being open to new insights, perspectives or views regardless of their source or validity or even truth.

God doesn’t cause disaster, murder or any destructive activity.  Many would argue then if 

He is a Loving God why does He allow it?  It’s called – nature, choices, free will, providence, chance or destiny.  We all have choices – good, bad, smart or stupid and the simple truth is that all choices and actions have consequences.  So, you might ask, was it just fate that someone died in a plane crash, flood or random act of violence?

Fate and luck are simply ways of looking at or interpreting life.  They are human choices not God actions regardless of your opinion or attitudes.

Struggle is a normal part of every life whether; health, relationship, business, career or financial in nature.  God isn’t picking on some people and giving special benefits to others.  Struggle comes sooner or later into every life – yes some struggles are more devastating than others but in the end regardless of their nature we always have a choice – accept them or fight them, learn from them or remain stuck, grow or behave as a victim but in the end everyone’s personal outcome is in their hands and not fate, luck or God’s agendas.

You can take issue with this perspective, that is your right but I’ll leave you with a question – if you are living in blame, resistance or denial mode – how is that working for you as you live your life one day after another?

“The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.”

Pierre de Coubertin