Becoming

“We don’t get to choose when it rains

We can fight or just get washed away

Will we be transformed or feel like we’re drowning?”

These are lyrics from a song by one of my favorite bands. The reason I love the song is because it roots itself in the reality that pain and hardship are a natural part of our existence. What makes the song so powerful is that it doesn’t just connect us with the adversity, it also challenges us to use it as a means to become something more … something better.  

This seems like a novel idea, especially in an age of instantaneous services and immediate fixes. We’ve become a society that avoids pain, and we expect to have our difficulties remedied as soon as possible. And, to some degree, I can understand this. When I was first diagnosed with Conus Medullaris, all I wanted was to have all of my faculties returned to normal.

However, issues arise when we try to rush through the adversity just to reach the other side. That’s due, in large part, to the fact that we are missing an opportunity to grow and to become more full and competent human beings. If we’re arriving on the other side of our adverse circumstances in the same state that we entered, are we really any better for having moved through them?

Every difficulty, every trying situation is a chance to grow. It’s a chance to be challenged, to be stretched and to not only understand ourselves a little more, but also the world around us. In addition, it’s also an incredible opportunity to develop strength and resiliency that we can’t achieve any other way. But, that’s only if we’re present and engaging it head on.

Let us become people that aren’t afraid of difficulty. Let’s not run from, try to avoid or move through our trying circumstances as quickly as possible. Instead, let us face our hardships as they come and push through them with strength, grace and resolve. And, when we arrive at the other side, may we smile at the fact that we’ve not only weathered the storm, but also that we’ve become better people in the process.