Most people would hardly place "gift" and "misfortune" together in the same sentence. All of our experiences, whether pleasant or difficult, contain gifts for us. We can use misfortune or difficulty to grow stronger and wiser. We can use difficulty to redirect our lives and discover new parts of ourselves.
Our culture teaches us to view our experiences and circumstances as meaningless and random byproducts of external events. Getting laid off seems meaningless. Being rear-ended in an accident seems like a random, freak occurrence devoid of any purpose. We often see what happens to us as a negative consequence of our past decisions and actions. Our experiences appear to be burdens resulting from our circumstances and who we are.
It is important to remember life always supports you. You benefit from all of your experiences and circumstances. Nothing is ever meaningless. Our gifts often come in disguise. We need to learn how to see beyond appearances to find the gifts of every situation or circumstance. The gifts are there if we are willing to look. We have to learn how to get past the emotional pain of the situation so that we can be open and ready to recognize the gifts coming to us. Take a look at your own past experiences and try to see how these experiences helped you. Examine the experiences of the people closest to you and see how their experiences helped them. For example, a family's member's bout with cancer gave her an opportunity to reconnect with the religious faith of her childhood. Another family member who was unhappy with his career as an independent truck driver found the opportunity to leave the trucking field when he could not afford to repair his truck. Many women have started successful businesses after being faced with the challenge of taking care of themselves and their children financially after a divorce. A devastating flood or fire that destroys a home has enabled the affected people to start over again in a new community. Examples of gifts found in misfortune are all around us.
Good times and misfortune are inescapable in life. We have no reason to fear misfortune. If it comes, it comes bearing gifts for us. When we meet misfortune, we have a choice in how we see it. We can judge it as bad and meaningless as we suffer our way through it. As long as we see it as bad, then we have closed our hearts and minds off from seeing the gifts. We can also choose to be grateful and curious about the gift and opportunity that comes inside of every misfortune.
When you face misfortune, you are never being punished. Life is not turning against you. Your luck has not run out. Resist thinking of yourself as a helpless, powerless victim of your circumstances. Bless your misfortune. Challenge yourself to find the gift in it. Remind yourself that you are going to benefit from misfortune, even if you are unable to understand how yet. Ask yourself: "What is the opportunity here in this misfortune? How can I use this in my life?' You are always being challenged and often guided to the next level of your life through your experiences and circumstances. Sometimes, the vehicle to help us grow and evolve is misfortune. Misfortune may start out being bitter, but it can end sweet if we give ourselves permission to see it as good in disguise. Allow yourself to use misfortune to move your life to a higher level.
Copyright©2009 Jeannine Robinson All Rights Reserved