Sometimes life is so hard. The physical circumstances of suffering we face have a way of leading our minds to a suffering all their own. Everything seems to go hand in hand to create the perfect storm within our life and mind. We ache to feel better, to taste relief, we cling and desperately claw at the truths we can remember- it will be ok, God’s got this, he will work it for my good. All while beginning to feel like a crazed hamster on a never-ending wheel.
So what about the times where nothing seems to help our bruised spirits? Where we cannot successfully regain our cheeriness or bring our painful emotions under control?
We hang on. Picture hanging onto something, it becomes very painful after a short while (especially if you are in poor shape physically- which is totally me) but hanging on keeps you alive. It keeps you focused on life. Maybe life is super painful but hanging on assures that you will reach another side at some point. When we simply hang on we become stronger because our muscles get stretched and then strengthened.
Hanging on gets a bad wrap, like you are only doing well if you are “getting” somewhere or achieving something. But that’s not true, sometimes we can’t fix it, we don’t have control, our heart is too broken etc. and we need to just hang on. The process of just getting by through hanging on produces renewed hope and strength.
