Let's be honest, life
can be hard. Sickness, death, breakups,
abuse, betrayals, and accidents are things we certainly never plan for in life.
However, painful circumstances like
these come seemingly out of nowhere onto our paths and our lives are in an
instant completely changed. Nobody is
exempt from troubles in this life (John 16:33).
All the money in the world, having the greatest of looks, possessing the
highest level of intelligence, or maintaining the utmost level of integrity
will not spare you from the trials and suffering that you may face in your
life. You can’t buy your way out of an
illness, nor, will your high IQ score spare you the heartache of a painful breakup. Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University professor who became famous for his "Last Lecture", which he gave to faculty and students as he was battling terminal cancer, made the profound statement, that "we can’t change the hand of cards we are dealt
in life, just how we play the hand”. No
matter how painful and difficult our circumstances may be, we have the ability
to rise above them and not allow them to hinder us from reaching our goals in life. You
may be caught in one hell of a storm in life right now and although it’s
pouring, the decision is up to you if you will let the storm keep you locked up
inside and at a standstill or if you will suit up anyways and venture out
despite the tough conditions you face.
My friends, I encourage you to learn to dance in the middle of the
storms in your life. It is important to not allow our circumstances to become
our excuses for not reaching or pressing on towards our goals. You can overcome difficult circumstances and
accomplish amazing things!
As you probably know, my
son is battling cancer. Through the two years that I have watched him fight
this illness I have been blown away by his innate ability to not allow his
circumstances prevent him from enjoying and living his life. He could easily use his illness as an excuse
to not attend school or participate in activities but his response is the exact
opposite! There are days when he is physically ill with side effects from chemo
but he begs to still go to school to play with his friends, who all see him for
who he is, not a as a cancer patient. I know it can only be by God’s grace and
mercy that a small child could dance so beautifully in the midst of their
storm. I can also tell you that he is
not alone in having this approach to living with the “C” word because every
time that I have sat in the children’s hospital cancer clinic where he is
treated, I observe the many other amazing children who are just like him! I have witnessed in the midst of what
outsiders would assume is a cold and sad environment, groups of children- some
bald, some toting iv poles behind them, some with scars from recently removed
tumors- of all ethnicities and of all socioeconomic backgrounds- gather together in
the center of the treatment center in what is referred to as the “playroom”. The room
is filled with smiles, giggles and laughter, and unexplainable joy and together, despite some of the grimmest of circumstances, these children have fun! They don’t discuss how unfair their circumstances
are. Nor do they make excuses for what
they can’t do in life…. no, these amazingly beautiful children come together
and dance through their storms! I never would have chosen the circumstance of being a cancer mom, but my
goodness, if I could only find the words to accurately convey the incredible life
lessons I have learned from enduring this storm. How can children despite
having incredibly hard circumstances, some who are fighting death, be capable
of having the right attitude towards life’s difficulties, while most adults
when caught in the storms of life are so quick to allow their circumstances to hinder
them?
Storms in this life are inevitable.
Some of us may face more fierce storms than others but we all will at some
point face them. We must learn to rise
above life’s circumstances and develop a no excuses attitude. Yes life may be
hard, but we can’t let the storms of life stop us from perusing our dreams. While you may feel that your circumstances
have left you shattered in a million pieces on the ground, as you press on,
each piece can be put back together again. And although you will never be
the same as you once were before the storms, you’ll have some dings and cracks
that others can see. But there is beauty that lies within the fact that through these very imperfections and flaws, your inner light will
shine through for others to see. You see friends, while no one wants to face a
difficult storm in life, it’s only in these storms that we see what we’re made
of, what we really believe in and what we are capable of overcoming. The choice is yours to make: are you going to
dance in your storm? Or will you allow your circumstance to become your excuse?
No comments:
Post a Comment