Life is filled with many obstacles, and sometimes, it seems impossible just to stay afloat. With constant pressure on us to perform at work, keep up with chores at home, and also maintain our personal lives, there’s no end in sight to life’s tests. Every morning many of us wake up with a sense of dread because of the inevitable stress we will have to endure, but if you shift your perspective a bit, you’ll see that every day is another opportunity to change our lives. Every new day brings with it a chance to start anew and maybe see the light shining through the clouds. Maybe we go through hardships in life in order to fully appreciate the beauty surrounding us every day.
So, next time you feel destined to break, try to keep in mind these reasons why the hard times often bring us to better days ahead.
5 Reasons Why Difficult Roads Lead to Beautiful Destinations
“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations. The best is yet to come.” – Zig Ziglar
1. We can’t appreciate the good without enduring the bad.
Like we said above, the hard times in life are a blessing in disguise because they allow us to be more grateful for the good times. We must go through a storm to see the rainbow, so remember that next time you want to give up. Once the storm passes, the sun will shine again, and you’ll see that the challenges you faced were worth it. Plus, enduring difficult times makes us more resilient people, which will help us the next time we encounter roadblocks in life.
2. Perseverance leads to victory.
You might have to climb mountains and traverse an arid desert before you reach an oasis, but eventually, you will get your goal. If you want something badly enough, life will reward you with it if you work hard and don’t throw in the towel. Many people may have traveled the road before you and gotten off due to weariness and frustration, but little did they know that if they had walked to the end, they’d find a spectacular treasure. You might only have a mile left to go, but if you call it quits at the end, you’ll never know how close you were to success.
3. It teaches us patience.
Patience is a virtue, and unfortunately, one that many people have forgotten in today’s world. We live in a culture of instant gratification where no one wants to work for anything – they just want it handed to them. However, for those who don’t surrender when the going gets tough, they get to experience the gift of allowing life to happen rather than forcing it. In other words, people who go through the hard times rather than going around them will gain the gift of patience and acceptance for their situation. Once they’ve passed the test, so to speak, they will arrive at a new place in their minds – a place of peace and nonresistance towards whatever is happening around them. Maybe their lives won’t drastically change, but they will have reached a new level mentally, which matters in the end.
4. Life is incredibly ironic.
Life requires great sacrifice and an understanding of the duality of the universe. It takes sadness to know happiness, pain to know pleasure, and weakness to know strength. It also takes the hard times to know the good times, which is precisely why the most challenging roads will lead to the most beautiful destinations. For example, if you want to start a business of some sort, you’ll have to work long hours the first few years, but the payoff will be worth it because of the sacrifice you made. Keep things in perspective so that you don’t get discouraged.
5. It shows you what you want and don’t want in life.
Let’s just say that the difficult road you’ve been walking down is a dead-end job. So, it wouldn’t make sense to continue down a road that doesn’t lead to another, would it? Exactly. But, you had to walk that path to know that it wasn’t right for you in the first place. The bumpy roads we often walk down toughen up our feet, but they also help to illuminate our true path. Choosing the wrong path on the fork in the road isn’t a waste of time; it just helps you deepen your understanding of yourself and lead you to the right path.
Final thoughts…
For many, it seems that the hard times never end. They wake up to the same job they hate, the same bills making them broke, and the same people testing their patience. When will it ever get better? Well, to be honest, it might just require a shift in perspective to see that things could be a lot worse, or you might need to change things in your life to find happiness. Whatever the solution, you would’ve never found it had you not gone through trials in life. Remember, you can’t see the stars without the night sky’s darkness.
