Return To Sender
There’s no store credit for life’s disappointments.
Have you ever opened a gift and thought, "Whelp, that was not what I hoped this would be."? Gift-giving is an act of empathy. Sometimes people struggle to visit our world to anticipate what we might want or need accurately. In other cases, our wishes exceed the constraints of resources and reality. Sooner or later, we're going to end up with a package we wouldn't have willingly picked. Because, we can't always get what we want.
Life gives us loads of gifts. They come in all shapes and sizes, wrapped in different ways. Think of the best things in your life. How many failures, losses, or heartaches did you endure before the good stuff found you? For most people, in many cases, the answer is "several." Sometimes, seemingly unsightly packages—the disappointments, rejections, and closed doors—turn out to be the greatest gifts of all. Without our knowing it, sometimes unchosen circumstances protect us from a particular form of pain we may never have to endure and, therefore, can't fully appreciate. We rarely see our near-misses.
We live life moving ahead but can often only make full sense of certain events looking back on them later. We don't always have the context to help us see more clearly that, in some cases, difficult things don't happen to us. Sometimes, they happen to us—we just can't see enough of the big picture to appreciate it in the moment. The comfort that context can bring is hard-won with patience. And time. In the meantime, we walk with faith in things unseen. And we hope—for a better tomorrow.
Faith and hope require intense vulnerability. We don't know what will happen in the future. This unpleasant truth can feel maddening as we wrestle with questions like, "Why this? Why me? Why now?" While we can't see tomorrow, we can often draw solace by examining our history. How many times have you had a negative reaction to a situation but were later thankful it turned out the way it did? When life gives us difficulty we'd rather return for store credit, it can help to remember that sometimes pain and struggle are the direct path to joy. With this in mind, we're better positioned to radically accept our circumstances. With hope. And in faith. Because, on the other side of our disappointment (or even devastation), something of great value may be waiting. A lesson. An opportunity. A blessing in disguise.
Don’t judge presents by their wrapping. If you do, you risk missing out on some of life’s greatest gifts. The best ones tend to find you when and where you least expect them.
What trial or disappointment have you experienced that, with the gift of hindsight, you are now grateful for?
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This who piece is beautiful Joy. I especially loved “Because, on the other side of our disappointment (or even devastation), something of great value may be waiting. A lesson. An opportunity. A blessing in disguise.”