And today I'm writing something about THE HARD LESSON: Growth Through Difficulty.
Today, I'm sitting with something I didn't want to learn the way I learned it. Some lessons come gently. This one came through pressure.
Dear Me,
This year, I learned that not everyone who claps for you will stay when things get hard. There was a season when I expected certain people to show up the way I show up for others, and when they didn't, it hurt more than I let on. However, that difficulty taught me something valuable. I stopped measuring my worth by who stayed and started measuring my peace by who was actually present.
I learned that leadership isn't always understood in the moment; sometimes it's only appreciated in hindsight. There were decisions I made as a student leadership president that weren't popular, that were questioned, and that left me doubting myself. However, I learned to lead from conviction, not applause. That was a hard lesson, but it made me steadier.
I learned that some situations won't resolve the way I hoped, no matter how much faith or effort I pour into them. There were moments this year I prayed hard for a specific outcome and didn't get it.
It was hard to sit with that disappointment without letting it turn into bitterness, but I learned that unanswered prayers are still answered prayers, just not in the way I expected.
I learned that avoiding a hard conversation doesn't make the problem disappear; it just delays the discomfort and often makes it worse. This year forced me to have conversations I would have rather avoided, and I came out of them realizing honesty, even when uncomfortable, protects relationships more than silence does.
The hardest part of this lesson wasn't the difficulty itself; it was resisting the urge to rush through it. I wanted to skip to the healing without sitting in the lesson, but growth doesn't work that way. You have to actually go through it to come out different on the other side.
I wouldn't choose to relive the difficulty, but I wouldn't trade what it taught me either.
Yes I'm still learning, and I'm still standing,
"Some lessons can only be learned in the fire, not in the comfort zone of life.
It's your handsome friend John Petra
Peace 🕊️ and love 💕.
