Not all storms come to disrupt our lives sometimes they come to clear a path

Any good card player knows that it is not always a matter of holding good cards in your hand, sometimes it is a matter of learning how to play the cards you were dealt, even the bad ones. Any good experienced card player knows, that you will not always be dealt a good hand, so the question becomes, how, do you turn a bad hand, into a good one? The key to winning at cards, is to know how to turn a losing hand, into a winning hand. That is what makes the difference between a good, successful, skilled card player and a mediocre, amateur, inexperienced  player.

It is the same challenge, whether we are playing card games or the way we live our lives. The key to winning and succeeding at life, is the same as it is, when playing cards, it is, to turn a bad situation into a  promising one, that is productive, beneficial, useful and positive. Life will not always be rosey, happy, carefree, perfect or happy-go-lucky, sometimes, life will deal us a bad hand. It is in those moments, that we will find out, just what kind of a card player and what kind of a person we are. The key is, learning how, to turn things around, turning pain into motivation, into strength and into power, and learning how to turn tragedy, into purpose and opportunity.

As painful and heart wrenching as tragedy may be, it can sometimes lead to new opportunities. The death of someone you love, the disastrous and painful breakup of a relationship or a marriage, a crippling disease, a tragic accident, the lost of your job or your home, can all be devastating and paralyzing for anyone.

But somewhere, mix in with all that pain and heartache, an opportunity will present itself, if you look for it. I know, that the very last thing on our minds, when we are suffering or going through unspeakable pain or a very tough situation, is trying to find opportunities, or trying to find some meaning, in what we are going through. Sometimes it just hurts so bad, that we cannot focus or anything thing else except, for the pain, that's all we can see. Our minds and our emotions get so completely overwhelmed with grief and sorrow and that's all we can think about.

But do you know, what the very worst tragedy of all is? The worst tragedy, is not the tragedy itself, but what it does to us, if we let it overwhelm us or cripple us emotionally. If you live long enough, you will  face some kind of tragedy, we will all suffer some kind of lost, that is an inescapable fact and reality of life, none of us can avoid it.

The question is, how, do we work through it, without letting it overwhelm us or devastate us? How, will our pain change and transform our lives? Will pain and tragedy make us bitter or will it make us better? When we face tragedy, it often makes us question our faith and everything we believe in.

When we suffer a devastating crushing blow or setback, it is only natural to grieve. We must let ourselves experience grief, because grief, is the first step toward healing. Anger, sadness, depression are all natural and normal it's nothing to be ashamed about. Those are not the only feelings and emotions associated with grief.

There are many different feelings and emotions that comes with grieving. Feelings like denial, shock, numbness, moodiness, confusion, worry, irritability, panic, helplessness, fatigue, guilt, vulnerability, withdrawing, sadness, sleeplessness and depression.  Even though they are all normal, natural feelings, they can easily take over our lives and overwhelm us. That being the case; we must find healthy, constructive ways to vent our feelings and relieve some of the pressure that is building up inside us, or it may cause an overload or can cause us to explode.

In  order to begin to recover, we must take it one step at a time. We cannot blame ourselves or shame ourselves, it won't do anything to help, it only prolongs the pain and suffering, and it will sap of us of the strength and energy that we will need to get better and to recover. There will be good days and bad days.

We should  try to surround ourselves with people who love us and care about us, that is an important part of our recovery and healing. We must resist the urge to push people away. When we are miserable, it is so easy to push others away and feel sorry for ourselves and drown in self-pity. The hard part, is not to let it suck us under.

You didn't plan it and you didn't expect it to happen, and you certainly didn't ask for it happen, yet here it is, and there is nothing that you can do to change it. But there will come a moment, when you will have to decide to either continue to suffer and be miserable or find a way to move on with your life and to start healing.