Have you learned a good lesson lately?

So it occurred to me earlier in the week when I was sitting down to write after a long stretch that perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from the time away. I was also reminded by a friend that as we face trials and different circumstances in life, we often forget to let go of the hurt and just keep the lesson.

When I was job hunting, I was really hunting. The jobs I was seeking seemed out of my reach and after several second and third job interviews with no offers, I did get discouraged. The silver lining of it all was that by the time I had the interview with the job I have now, I had lots of practice with lots of different types of questions so the interview was not that big of a deal- lots of knowledge gained along the way.

I like many people have experienced some financial hardship. When it was happening, all I could do was the best thing in the moment to keep everything afloat. I learned how to look for a great bargain and only spend on the necessities. Now that time in my life has passed, I still look for deals and love a great bargain. While I do remember the stress of that time, the stress is gone. What I keep is what I learned about what I really need to keep going.

I worked online for several years. the grass is not always greener on the other side, but sometimes it is. There is a time for everything. When I was working online, it allowed me to have different freedom than I do now and I had to learn to be a fantastic master of my schedule because I was working across many time zones. I’m glad I did it, grateful for the wonderful people I met, but I would not do it again.

We face challenges and trials in life. Life is rarely fair and we can think “why me?” or “why is this happening right now?”. Perhaps we should ask different questions. Next time you are in the middle of a challenge, ask instead – “What is the lesson you are trying to teach me, God?”. It does not make the challenge go away, but it may change your perspective on it. Try it.