Sometimes Life is Just HARD

Do you ever feel like your life is falling apart?  That you can't live up to your own, or other's, expectations?  That you just can't keep up, or do it ALL?  I've been feeling that way a lot recently. I'm a "perfectionist" by nature, but what am I really striving for, because all my "perfectionist" attempts really bring me are feelings of disappointment and discouragement.  I CAN'T be perfect...I just can't!  I know it theoretically, but somehow I can't get it through to my brain that it's not humanly possible. That being said, no one can be perfect, no matter how well they fake it.  When we excel in one area of our lives, something else has to give, because we can't be AMAZING at everything.  There isn't enough time in a day or enough energy in one person to do it all. So...since we can't do it all, how do we CHOOSE? How do we PRIORITIZE what's most important in our lives, or for today, even the next hour? 

Priority and balance in my life have always been among the things with which I struggle most.  My biggest problem is that I want to do EVERYTHING--all at once and really well--IMPOSSIBLE, right? Then, why do I still desire it.  Maybe that's a discussion best left for a high-quality, professionally-trained shrink, I don't know. What I do know, is that making decisions can be hard, and because life is full of decisions, sometimes it's just that...HARD!  Often, the decisions of others affect us, both in positive and negative ways, but they affect us nonetheless.  Those decisions we can't control.  What we can control, is our A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E!

In my last post I talked about having "an attitude of gratitude". I know, it's kinda cliche, but I like it, AND it works!  This time, I think I want to have an attitude of F-A-I-T-H!  Faith that there is a Master Plan--a greater heavenly design than what we can see with our limited vision, here on earth.  I know that life wasn't meant to be EASY. But sometimes, it's SO hard, that I wish it were a little easier, don't you?  The truth is, that we usually grow the most when life is the hard.  Wouldn't you agree?  It's difficult, when in the moment (or moments, sometimes years long) of challenge to see the growth we are making until we have overcome the struggle.  It's then, that we can look back and see how far we've come, and how much we've grown.  It's the "hard" things in life that make us better people--wiser, smarter, stronger, braver, humbler, more sensitive, and more sympathetic to others, especially those in situations that we can understand (because we too have experienced them).  I think of the Savior and how perfectly he can succor (def: assist and support in times of hardship and distress) all of us.  It's because He has felt what we have felt, and suffered what we suffer.  He gets it, because he's experienced it ALL personally.  I can't even imagine what heartache and difficulty he suffered when he knelt in Gethsemane and hung on Calvary. It is inconceivable (yes, I think of "Princess Bride" every time I say that, which isn't all that often, but makes me smile : )

I feel like I'm kind of just rambling right now, but my point is that YES, life is HARD, but not unlivable.  Even in my darkest moments, I have wanted to live on and keep moving forward because I still had HOPE.  Hope that my situation could improve, hope that I would become stronger and more capable--not perfect, but improved!  It's Jesus Christ who I believe is the greatest source of that HOPE.  For it is He that provided hope for us all when he made the most important sacrifice on Earth.  And in Him, I will have FAITH!

I have come to realize that even when life is hard, I can be HAPPY because I have FAITH and I have HOPE and a SAVIOR who loves me, died for me, and LIVES for ME everyday!  For this I am GRATEFUL!  And that is my thought for the day.