When adversity strikes, we waver. When challenges arise, we falter. When hardships come, we crumble. Again and again they come, and again and again we fall.

Adversities crash over us like waves, tossing us about until we feel seasick and unsteady.

Instead, when life gets hard, be still and question it.

It’s in this questioning that we learn something. Not always do we have an answer to hardships we face. But hardships we will face.

Life has a funny way of surprising us, whether or not we like it. One minute you’re cruising along. No care in the world. The next, you’re face-to-face with a challenge like a moose on the interstate.

What do you do when life hands you lemons and throws tornadoes your way?

Hardships are exhausting. Life is exhausting. You don’t need more exhausting.

Like a ring. We enter it already wearied, yet life still has the audacity to knock us out.Sometimes when life’s relentless jabs cause our legs to buckle. The wisest recourse is to stare up at the lights, waiting, watching, listening, and collecting our senses before attempting to stand again.

Whenever hardships arise like my struggle with alcoholism, I think of a story I heard long ago about a traveler in a storm.

A traveler journeyed through a steep mountain pass when a fierce storm arose. The sky turned dark, and the winds whipped at her coat. The rain stung her face, and her feet slipped. It became too dangerous to continue. She took shelter in a cave as the winds howled and the rain poured. It was getting late, and she needed to get back to her home in the village at the base of the mountain.

Thunder crashed; it echoed through the peaks like the roar of an angry beast. Her anxiety became frustration. Frustration to anger. Anger to rage. She would not be contained in this cave. Time and time again, she attempt to face the storm. Time and time again, it knocked her back into the cave. The storm only intensified, winds and rain lashing with ever more fury.

She sat down in despair. Listening to the wind, watching the rain, smelling the earth. A curious eye came over her. She noticed how the winds whipped trees into a frenzied, chaotic dance. She noticed the shake of the mountain with each thunder strike. She noticed the newly carved ravines from torrents of rain. In the wonder of the storm’s raw power, her rage faded.

The traveler recognized the force of nature taking its course. Winds cleansing the air and scattering seeds. Water quenching the land’s thirst and rejuvenating flowers. She understood the storm had a necessary role in the workings of the world. A calm acceptance came over her, waiting with a newfound patience. She knew the storm would run its course.

In time, sunlight peeked through the clouds. The storm passed on its own time, not hers. She went home, grateful for the storm, and walked with a deepened sense of awe and appreciation for the beauty of the forces shaping our lives.

When hardships come our way, we want to fight through it with everything we have. Sometimes it’s best just to surrender to its forces and find the beauty in it.

A cinch in concept, yet thorny in execution – or so it seems.

But how can we find calm in the center of the storm? How can we let go when our instinct is to hold on tighter?

When fear rises, be still. When anxiety emerges, be calm. When anger rears its head, be kind. When sadness overwhelms, be light.

Don’t get me wrong, there are times to push through those storms and hardships and adversities and trials and obstacles and torments and sufferings and difficulties.

We have to learn when we can push, and when it’s out of our control. If pushing isn’t an option, or it becomes too dangerous to continue, it might amaze you at what happens when you just surrender to the forces shaping our lives.

So the next time, a hardship comes your way. Take a step back, a deep breath, and contemplate before exerting any more energy. In times of joy, dance carefree. In times of sorrow, retreat inward. You might come out the other side with a deepened sense of awe and appreciation for the beauty of life.

Image used was AI Generated