the phoenix

Everyone has trials and tribulations at various times in their lives.  That's nothing new.  Most people know this.

This past year has been no exception for me.  I've faced many challenges, and one in particular that really turned me on my head at the time.  The mess took a while to sort out and the deep wounds needed time to heal.  After this particular mess of poor decisions, for the first time in my life I had an incredibly strong sense of regret.  The struggle and the losses seemed to far outweigh any small benefits of the experience that I could see, but now I'm starting to change my mind.  As humans, we make choices.  Our strength lies in the power of our decisions.  They define who we are and our paths in life.

Before and during our trials, it is impossible for us to understand them.  Only after will we know why they came.  I've seen people in my life hold on so tightly to past wounds, decisions, and experiences.  Understanding leads to acceptance, which eventually leads to recovery.  I've been to the bottom of the bottom at several points in my life, and when I'm there, I'm always wondering, 'When will I be restored?'  I'm learning now that I'll always be restored when I learn to rebuild.  Every time I struggle and every moment at the bottom is teaching me and giving me a gift to carry with me into the future.

"Elijah's cries echoed through the valley to return to his ears.
'Thou knowest not whereof thou speakest,' the angel replied.  'There is no tragedy, only the unavoidable.  Everything hath its reason for being: thou needest only distinguish what is temporary from what is lasting.'
'What is temporary?' asked Elijah.
'The unavoidable.'
'And what is lasting?'
'The lessons of the unavoidable.'
Saying this, the angel disappeared."
-Paulo Coelho, The Fifth Mountain

If you wish to rise from the ashes like the phoenix, you need only to learn how to spread your wings...