I walk for exercise and use an exercise app on my phone to set my pace and track my progress. Throughout my walk time a "personal trainer" voice embedded in my program cycles through verbal support. One encouragement tells me, "You may hate this right now, but you've got to get through it." Though it is more of a struggle to exercise on some days than it is on others, I don't hate to exercise. My enjoyment of exercise is what motivates me to do so. When I am exercising I am simultaneously aware of the benefits I will receive from it in my future and the benefits I am feeling in the moment.

I recently read someone's Facebook post that said, "You can't have a rainbow without a little rain." (This statement was taken from a poem; author unknown.) The statement is true, but it presents rain as something that is unwanted. Though some don't enjoy rainy days, rain is not negative; it helps facilitate growth.

Many of us hate struggle, but struggle is necessary to grow. One's attitude in the midst of struggle has a big impact on the struggle process. When we focus on how much we hate the struggle we make the struggle more difficult.

Consider Paul's perspective. He explained, "...but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Romans 5:3-5, ESV).

What if we changed our perspective to be more like Paul's? Instead of focusing on the struggle as being negative maybe we should focus on the immediate and future growth the struggle brings. I think if we did we might actually find joy in the journey.

#struggle #growth #perspective #hope