In Others’ Words: The Difficult Road

I don’t know about you, but I’ve looked for various forms of success for a lot of my life. One of the earliest forms of success started way back in grade school spelling bees … and I’m still wrangling with words in pursuit of success.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always hoped that success would be found, well, on a smooth paved road.

Rarely happened that way for me.

Do you like greeting cards? (Stick with me here, I haven’t wandered off topic.) One time I was browsing the card racks and I found this card … and I bought it for myself. Why? Because I was going through a difficult time and I laughed out loud when I read the words on the cover and inside:

Cover (which had a cartoon image of a wet, bedraggled cat): We learn the most from our most difficult times.

Inside: What a stupid, stupid system.

When I found that card, the circumstances in my life made me feel like that waterlogged cat — and no one was offering me a towel or an umbrella.

So what’s all this about success and difficult times? Sometimes success is staying the course — not opting for a detour or sulking on the side of the road and quitting.

Sometimes success is the lessons learned along the difficult road. Realizing that we’re not the same person at the end of the road that we were at the beginning. Maybe we’re stronger. Or maybe we’re willing to admit we’re weak.

Sometimes success is found in the friends we meet along the way … or discovering our friends weren’t so faithful. Maybe light replaces darkness and our view of God gets clearer.

And maybe, just maybe, success is realizing we were never meant to be walking this road. And we turn around and run back to where we went wrong and start over.

In Your Words: What’s your road look like today? Easy street or difficult road? How are you embracing it as a path to success?

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