I hated every minute
of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now
and live the rest of your life as a champion.'
Life
of a champion always looks so amazing. He has the glory, the fame, the
happiness. His dream came true and he is in that place where he wanted to be as
a child. His life is perfect. At least it looks like it. And maybe it's not.
But for him it may be as close to perfection as it ever will get. Everybody
sees perfection different. But in order to achieve it we all need to do the
same simple thing: suffer.
Suffering
is such an interesting process. It can come in so many ways that is really rare
when two people suffer identical. And even when the suffering happens to two or
more people, it can still be different.
Some
people are sad when they lose a toy or an object. Some get really worked up
when an insignificant relationship ends or other suffer when their favourite TV
show ends. Some people get upset when their favourite celebrity does something
upsetting or when they have troubles in school.
At
the same time there are people that suffer from hunger, poverty or physical or
mental abuse. There are people that are stabbed on their way back from a
date. There are people that get raped only because there are people that are
just mean. There are people that suffer from an incurable disease that came
into their lives when they least expected it. There are people born with illnesses
that isolate them from the world in a way or another. There are people that get
abused by their own parents. They don't feel safe in their own houses, the only
places that should always feel the safest.
So
are the first problems less important than the second ones? Should we say to the first
people that they exaggerate and should suck it up and move on, just because
there are people that are less fortunate than them? Should we take care of the
last ones and ignore the others?
I
don't think so. I think we should take care of both of them in equal measures.
They all suffer and they all have their on crosses to carry. And I'm going as
far as to say that, maybe, the last category are a bit luckier.
Don't get me
wrong, is horrible what they have to put up with. There should never be such
suffer in this world, but this world is no utopia. Things are far from perfect.
But the people that suffer much in the beginning will be the strongest.
Eventually they
will find a way to get out of their personal hell. They will survive and get
well again. They will gather the pieces and put themselves back together. And
next time when life will slap them in the face, they will be prepared and
strong enough to handle it.
The others may
not be so lucky. Or they may be.
You never know
with life. It sometimes hits the same person till they break beyond repair. Or sometimes
it hits once, makes you stronger, and moves on.
Last Sunday a
really good and dear friend of mine took me to the church he goes every Sunday.
It was so different from what I expected and for the first time in my life I
really liked a service. As a given they were talking about resurrection. And
one person said that in order for us to fully enjoy the resurrecting power, we
need to die. Before we can feel true happiness and joy, we need to suffer.
Before we can fully understand how beautiful life is, we need to see how ugly
it can get.
I think that
whatever makes us sad and hurts us is suffering. But all the suffering that we
face makes us a little bit stronger. It makes life more bearable in the end.
There may be a lot of stormy days in a
row sometimes, but in the end the sun will shine. And it will shine so much
brighter and harder and we will enjoy it so much more, just because we lived
without it for a long time.
So, no matter what, keep going.
Keep a joyful smile on your face, happiness in your mind, love in your heart
and have hope that tomorrow will be better. And never forget the lessons that
you learn while suffering. Because those dark moments are the ones that truly
make us champions. XoXO,m.
