C'est la vie: That's Life!

How we take life — or perhaps, where life takes us — is something we never truly know, and never truly will. One day, we are happy, seeing the world through a bright and hopeful lens; the next, we face an unexpected adversity, something we never imagined even in our worst nightmares.

We cry.

We stress over things beyond our control.

We pray to the Almighty, then complain, and eventually feel gratitude when we realize things could have been worse. Slowly, we begin to accept that this is how God’s plan unfolds, and we feel thankful for having been spared from the darkest possibilities.

Yet life never returns to normal the moment this realization strikes. The days ahead remain filled with struggles. We ride waves of ups and downs, fighting simply to stay sane enough to live through one more day. And then — just as clouds scatter to reveal the sun — the darkness starts to recede. Life becomes a little easier with each passing day. Hope rises again. We begin to live again. And before long, things fall back into place.

The storm rises… and then the calm descends.

The irony of life is that the sage within us awakens only when we are tested. We discover our potential, our fighting spirit, our ability to face hardships, fight our own battles, and still care for those we love. These lessons are never learned gently — not by stepping out of our comfort zone, but by being thrown out of it.

All is well that ends well.

And as long as everything eventually turns out alright, life remains worth living. We carry on, with a new perception. A renewed gratitude. A deeper understanding of the value of the life we once lived — and the life we are still blessed to live.