A lesson that we learn, a reason that pushes us or a blessing that changes us.

A storm has entered your home. The one you love has hurt you deeply. And you don’t know how to forgive or let go. You want to run away from this pain but you can’t run faster than your shadow.

How dare hurt me? is the only question that keeps popping in your mind.

Holding onto your anger and resentment is not keeping you alive. It is keeping you from living your life.

So, you learn to forgive. Even though it is the hardest mountain to climb. You realize through this process that:

It doesn’t matter how big your house is. It’s how happy your home is.

There’s always a reason.

You made a mistake. You thought that you would enjoy the new job. But you found your mistake when you start doing your new job. The money is good but your heart is not in it. You realize that you have sacrificed your heart for the money.

There’s always a lesson.

Everybody has told you that you work too damn much and that you need to balance your life. But you want the raise, the promotion, the status, and the big office. You hold onto your job 24/7. Sacrificing other important things.

When you find someone you like, you convince yourself you will have time for her “someday.” After many years, you realize that your upstanding job is not keeping you warm at night. And you are all alone in your big mansion.

Holding onto what you love tightly only pushes it further away from you. Forcing never works. Controlling never works. Pushing never works.

There’s always a lesson.

You have been learning one type of education or another throughout your life. First, it was your degree. Then your masters. Then, all those short-term courses that your company provided for you and your colleagues.

And still, you searched the internet for more education. You found out later in your life that:

Your natural aptitude matters but the distinguishing factor lies in you: in your goals, and your grit and your choices.

There’s always a lesson.

Your mom loves you. She believes in you. Your boyfriend believes that you can achieve anything. But, you don’t believe in yourself.

And you realize that all the love in the world is not enough — if you don’t love yourself. And believe in yourself.

You cannot become what you believe you are not.

There’s always a lesson.

Whatever life throws at you, whatever the impossible situation, wherever the odds of achieving success seem remote, you say to yourself: “I’m not going without a fight.”

You don’t choose to wimp out, roll over and die. Because you need to keep on working to pay the rent. To raise your child. To take care of your mother.

There’s always a reason.

You had a minor accident. And your ankle is broken. The doctor tells you that you are bedridden for two months. The first few days, you were miserable doing nothing and looking at the same ceiling over and over again.

And then your friend brings you a poetry book and on the first page is written:

If you feel like you’ve lost everything, remember that trees shed all their leaves just before flowers begin to blossom.

Tears flow freely on your face. You start writing furiously on a notepad. Without knowing it, hours have passed and your notebook is full.

Writing has always been your thing but now with your busy job, you did not have time for it. Now, you have the time.

There’s always a blessing.

You find a girl that you like. But you don’t know how to talk to her. You wait for the right opportunity. You wait for her to notice you. You wait for the universe to make her see you.

And while you are waiting, someone else has made a move. Has talked to her and made her laugh. And you realize that:

Courage is being able to face your demons. And that things don’t just fall from the sky.

There’s always a lesson.

In the company meeting, you find out that somebody has made a mistake in the presentations. And you proudly raise your hand and point that person to the whole group.

After that, everybody stopped talking to you. When you ask a co-worker for the reason, he tells you that you could have talked to the person who has made the mistake in private. And you realize that:

A mistake that makes you humble is better than an achievement that makes you arrogant.

There’s always a blessing.

You hear that there is a new project coming to your company. You are already swamped with work. You have many projects on your hand. But, you still want to add one more on your list.

When your evaluation comes and you are evaluated for your work, you are told that your work does not even come close to being good.

And you realize that:

You can’t do many things at the same time and be good at them.

There’s always a lesson.

You get rejected many times. They tell you that your article is not good enough for their site. You want to be mad at the world. You want to be furious at it. You want to complain because that is the easiest task.

But, you keep on writing. And do the damn work of writing every day. And one day, you realize that:

The rejections have made you a better writer. And that you would never have understood success if you have never tasted failure.

There’s always a blessing.