Dear First name / friend,
“Somehow people seem to believe that life is supposed to be easy…There is no quick and easy way. Nothing worth having in life comes without effort.”
~John C. Maxwell, Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn
Growing up, being an athlete came easy to me. Getting good grades came easy to me. Both required some effort, but it wasn't anything I felt like I couldn't handle. My parents definitely instilled in me the confidence needed to do anything I set my mind to doing. Even marriage, felt “easy” to me, until I was pregnant with my first child.
Let me just tell you that pregnancy was not easy for me, but I definitely expected it to be. I did not have that pregnancy glow. I had a face full of acne that was worse than I had experienced in my teenage years. My belly itched nonstop as it grew. No amount of lotion was going to quench my desire to scratch. I planned a natural birth, but after about 36 hours of labor my plans changed.
Instead of being frustrated with what I was lacking, I could have been focusing on what I did have. During my pregnancy, I only gained weight in my belly. My husband and our families were very supportive, and my baby boy was beautiful and healthy.
Was everything worth it when I saw my baby boy? Definitely. Would it have been even easier if I had accepted the fact that it might be hard? Most definitely. Anything worth having requires effort.
Encouragement
The quicker we accept that life is not “supposed” to be easy, the more successful we will be. Why? If you think life is supposed to be easy your energy will be spent on avoiding the hard, rather than growing from it. Expect the hard and grow from it!
