Many of us have to endure crushing adversity in our life time. Many times we can feel completely devastated by the event. We may feel as if we will never see the light of day again.
This event may have been an illness, loss of a job, an accident, marital problems, a divorce or a death to mention only a few. So how did we deal with these situations?
We will most likely deal with adversity much like we deal with life in general. Some people are very emotional as they walk through life, so in time of adversity, emotions will also run high. If we are calm and approach things 'one day at a time' in life, we no doubt we will deal with difficult situations in the same fashion.
It is important to give ourselves the time and space we need to absorb the situation in front to us. It is going to take some time to work through our shock, fear, denial, sadness and whatever other emotions we may be experiencing. After the shock has worn off, we start to deal with the situation; we can begin the journey of healing and re- building our lives again, or we can stop living and let the adversity destroy us. The choice is ours to make.
The healing journey may take months or even years to accomplish. Each morning we can wake and ask our Creator for strength to move through the day.
Being connected to friends and family can be of great assistance to us at this time. True friends and close family will understand our circumstance. They will listen to our story and allow us to talk through the difficult situation. We, in turn, need also to accept the offer of their company and friendship. To heal from any adversity, we need to focus on change and moving forward.
Dealing with adversity is much like driving a car: While driving our car we will need to focus on what is in front of us. We will not do well driving our car if we continue to drive by only looking in the rear view mirror. We need to focus forward to see what lies ahead of us. Yes, it is good to check the rear view mirror from time to time, but the focus needs to be on what is ahead of us. Healing will happen when we focus forward, while taking a quick glance from time to time in the rear view mirror to remember what has happened in the past.
We all have this small voice inside of us that calls us to move forward, to heal and to grow. While maintaining a positive outlook on life we can move forward. Yes, some days will be difficult, but by remaining positive, we have the ability to move forward one day at a time and begin a new chapter in our life. A bend in our road of life is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn.
"Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers." - Garth Brooks
Margaret Anne Yost nursed for 35 years. Returning back to school I completed classes from the Red River College in the areas of Gerontology, Bereavement, Death and Dying. For twelve years I worked in bereavement support at a funeral home.
At present I am employed as an Interim Parish Worker at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Melville, Sask. I also enjoy my role as homemaker, wife, mother and grandmother.
