4 Ways to Turn Struggle into Beauty
By Christa Jaussi
@toolsforstruggle
Struggle. It leaves such a negative resonance in our mind when we hear it. It can feel defeating at best and hard to see clearly past the wake of chaos. It’s caused by such a variety of circumstances – even good things. We resist it at all costs.
After we had two beautiful kids, we were unable to get pregnant again and experienced unexplained Secondary Infertility. I didn’t even know that existed. My heart crumbled apart when the doctor told me that we had a 2% chance of getting pregnant again. I battled within myself between feeling grateful for the family we already had, and the despair caused by the loss for my expectations of our life. It took time, and continual work, but navigating through this unexpected struggle in my life led me to learn how we can turn struggle into beauty.
What if we looked at struggle through a new lens? What if we could tune out all the noise it causes in our hearts and mind, and focus in? Here are 4 ways to do just that!
- View struggle as the opportunity it is. Struggle is setting us up for the very growth we desire and need to reach our potential! Don’t you dare shy away. Be the warrior you are and feel all those feels! Embrace that journey, girl! Although difficult the road, there is so much beauty that comes.
- You can be positive and still acknowledge how hard life is! Sometimes we think that positivity and struggle can’t coexist, but you can still say “this sucks” AND struggle in a positive way. Don’t disregard your feelings and shove them deep under a rug in hopes that acting fine will make them disappear. You can be sad and show it, AND also be positive. It gives an example to our kids and those around us of confidence even in hard times which is so important!
- Use faith-actions! Our struggles don’t magically poof away when we put forward faith. But I do promise you this – we will be strengthened. Using healthy coping skills is showing faith to our Heavenly Father that we trust Him. Find ways to avoid escaping and numbing and that keep your body and spirit working together to bless you every single day!
- Openly struggle with others. There is beauty when we connect even through the times when we ourselves are struggling. When we share about how we are struggling with others, it provides a safe space for those around us. You’d be surprised how many people are just yearning for permission to feel like it’s okay to struggle. Especially in the social media realm where it seems like the only emotion that exists is happiness – We have the opportunity to bring unity in a special and sacred way. We are all in this crazy life together!
We got this, ladies! Struggle may be a constant in our lives, but we don’t need to fear it. Even through the heart-wrenching, non-glamorous, super difficult struggles – YOU got this. This life was made for struggle, but you were made for this life!