Low points help in the long run
- Kyle Snyder: Live on Purpose
- February 25, 2022
- 953
“Problems are not stop signs; they are guide lines.” —Robert Schuller
The last two years have been a real struggle for me and Stacey, my wife. It started out great with the shutdown. We were together more, went on more drives, among other things. Life just seemed simpler. Then we got busy again once everything opened back up. I was almost finished with my first book before all the madness began, and a publisher was interested in it, but they fell victim to the pandemic. I could see all my dreams going up in smoke. It took me days to look on the bright side again.
I struggle with depression, and with everyone having what they thought was “the right opinion” and making sure everyone knew it, that just got me down. I saw just how selfish people could be, and that included me. I think it’s great when people express their opinions, but sometimes it can confuse a person about what to believe. Also, it seemed like everybody was at each other’s throat. My medication was changed, and it gave me a bad reaction. I am much better, but I must say it was very difficult for me. Oh, I forgot to mention the two panic attacks I had. I got stuck in a spiral — like Johnny Cash, I went down, down, down.
However, now that I look back on the past two years, I can see how it helped me in the long run. We tend to look at the bad situations in our life, and we just want to get past them as quickly as possible. I will be the first to admit it: I want to move on as soon as I can. But if we are observant, we can learn a very valuable lesson from our past. Even our troubles can be a tool to teach us how strong we are, and if we really pay attention, we can learn how to appreciate life better.
I am reminded of a Christian song that basically says if it wasn’t for the storm, I would never know your strength. Of course, it is talking about Jesus. How often we forget about him in the middle of a storm. I am often reminded how much I need God in my life. We are never the only one who faces the situations we are up against. We also possibly won’t be the last ones to face them either. Our situations can be used to help others who are going through the same things.
I believe one of the most important things to take from a bad situation it to remember how good we have it. The vast majority of us don’t go to bed hungry. We have a bed to sleep in, a roof over our heads, some money and more. Yet we lose focus of what we have because it is normal to have these things. I believe we should not forget what we do have because we never know what will happen down the pike.
What we do have is so much more important than what we don’t have. We may not have everything we want, and having goals is great. However, a bad situation can help us know we already have it pretty nice in life.