When I first read those words in my email message from The Universe, I thought it was just a backwards way of saying, “We have setbacks and heart breaks so you might as well find something positive.”
You know, sort of a “suck-it-up-and-deal-with-it-the-best-way-you-can” kind of message.
While setbacks are par for life’s course it isn’t necessarily a first thought to see them as a blessing.
Yet we should.
It’s not just because out of the all the options we have that one sounds the best.
It is the best.
And it is the best because with setbacks we have the opportunity to learn. Where there is learning there is growth.
And where there is growth there is opportunity to live the life you want to live – whatever that is. Perhaps you want to feel better physically, want to eat healthier, want a clearer mind. Maybe you want to realize more success at work or with your personal relationships. Maybe you want to feel more connected with the outside world.
In order to learn and grow we must take the good with the bad.
And, importantly, you must pay attention to the signs and signals we receive all the time about what we are doing right and what we are doing not-so-right.
The uncomfortable messages we receive from our body after we’ve eaten a less-than-real food, the consistent headache we get from being in the presence of a negative person, the powerlessness we seem to feel in the midst of a challenge, even the bouts of depression we feel from time to time – or perhaps more often than not – are all gifts if we choose to see them that way.
They are all indications that we need to listen up.
When we do that we learn what not to do, think, say, eat next time. And more importantly, we learn about our strength to survive, our courage to push through.
There is a blessing in everything negative. Just like there is a rainbow after every storm.
We don’t often see it right away. We don’t often feel its beautiful affects.
But when we pay attention – literally and figuratively look to the sky beyond the challenge/setback/storm – there it is.
The blessing.
Waiting for you to grab hold. To learn from.
And move on towards the next blessing.
