Happiness comes with Hardship

4/3/2022

Life is not a bed of roses. It takes a lot of hard work, courage, faith and sacrifice. Sometimes, it takes more strength than what you think you have. You have to face all the challenges and come out of them, not just for yourself but for all the people who are depending on you. Despite all the difficulties in life, instead of giving up, one should instead embrace them, work hard and be better.

Happiness and success are two words we hear a lot of these days. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, “I want to be happy,” “I want to be successful,” or “I am having a tough time.”

But, to deliver the meaning of these words over the just ended week, I turned to my childhood worship leader Don Moen who said it best, “Life is not easy, but it is good.”

What made me think of this quote is that it came to me as I was reflecting on all of the ups and downs in life.

Never take for granted the good things in life. Never get ahead of yourself. Never stop learning. Never stop growing. Never stop trying. Never stop working. Never stop helping others.

There will be hardships, but you should never let it deter you from your happiness, from your success and from your future.

Life is about living in the present and preparing for the future. It’s about letting go of the past, without forgetting it. It’s about seeking help when you need it. It’s about having setbacks and putting your head down to overcome them.

Achieving happiness isn’t easy, but the key to happiness is gratitude and perseverance in the face of hardship and disappointment.

Life does not always come in a straight line, it comes with its own share of hardships and setbacks, that is what makes success harder to attain than it already is. How you respond to the roadblocks in your life determines how you deal with stress, how you handle confrontation and even how you treat other people.

Over here on the road of life, happiness is earned, not given. If there's one thing that you should know, it's that success comes with some sort of price.

I want us to be reminded that despite the fact that a lot of people still portray happiness as an emotion that is not tied to any form of suffering, that notion is completely false. Any successful person would tell you that what makes them smile is the same thing that gives them butterflies in their stomach and makes them question themselves.

The fact of the matter is that self-doubt is what makes us strive for greatness, never settling for anything less than everything we deserve. And since we know the life we live here on Earth won't last forever, we believe that it's up to us to make every day count, while at the same time behaving in such a manner that would make us proud on our death bed.

The Big question is, how can we find enough reason and motivation to keep going in the midst of hardship?

Deep down we all know that it's not about the destination, but about the journey. We understand that happiness isn't some far-off place we have to reach at the end of our journey. It's here, right now and within us.

You'll notice that as you begin to make small improvements, your patience will grow with you and your mind will soften around your goals. You'll be able to look at the moment and appreciate what you can control and what you can't.