Welcome to Holland

"I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances may be. I know how to live when things are difficult and I know how to live when things are prosperous. In general and in particular I have learned the secret of...facing either plenty or poverty. I am ready for anything through the strength of the One who lives within me."   ~Philippians 4:11-13

Battling, with life's ups and downs, doesn't change things. As my mother says..."It is, what it is." Many people resort to burying their head in the sand and pretending that nothing is wrong. This doesn't help either. But I know what does help.

Acceptance.

Acceptance of life's difficult situations doesn't make things harder, it makes things easier. Acceptance empowers us to see life through a different set of eyes. Emily Perl Kingsley said it beautifully in a story she penned years ago.

"...it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the wheels of the jumbo jet touch down, you awaken from your slumbers, and you hear a flight attendant's cheery voice saying,  "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland."

In life, we are often faced with unintended trips to Holland. It can be a break-up, lingering illness, hardship, loss of a loved one. Or any situation where we are left powerless and vulnerable. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is open your heart and accept whatever comes, with gratitude. Acceptance is powerful; it can turn turmoil to peace and helplessness to independence.

Yes, being in a place not of our choosing is difficult.  However, I have found that in times of struggle, the rewards of growth and love can be abundant.