My patriarchal blessing tells me there will be "days of hardship and sorrow" in my life. Big words, eh? I think about them A LOT. Every day. Have I really experienced what I would consider "hardship and sorrow" in my life so far? Some days, or probably really some moments, I think YES! This is hardship, or this is sorrow.
But has it been really?
And is it self-inflicted? I've been thinking lately about how our choices, and our pride, create our hardships and sorrows. Hardship and sorrow, and embarrassment, disappointment, regret.
And to really get complex, how do our ideals vs. reality contribute? One of my favorite movies growing up was Anne of Avonlea. If you know it, you're smiling right now at the thought, right? :) Anyhow, in the end, Anne tells Gilbert...
"I went looking for my ideals outside of myself
and found that it's not what the world holds for you,
but what you bring to it."
Am I bringing what I can to make my reality my ideal? What would you say about yours?
And the next time I think about hardship and sorrow, I hope I'll remember this image:
And offer a prayer of thanks for my blessings, for simple goodness, for ideals and reality.
