racoma.netI love to write. I write to live. I live to love.

Life is sometimes a breeze. But then at one point or another, an externality gets wedged into the monotonicity and you either get excited or disappointed. It’s exciting when you get to experience something different that is good. It’s disappointing when the externality is a bad event, sometimes fatal, sometimes not, but always frustrating.

I think I may have almost died about three weeks ago. Going home after dropping off the kids to school, a truck rear-ended my car as I was stopped at a pedestrian lane. That kind of externality wedged into my life (quite literally) was a very frustrating and worrisome event. It’s frustrating in that these situations inevitably lead to delays, hassles and costs on your part, whether monetary or in terms of precious time and effort. Sometimes you blame people. Sometimes you blame the situation. Sometimes you even blame yourself.

But the trick to dealing with these kinds of things is being able to transcend the frustrations and difficulties, and looking forward to better things ahead. Bad situations are often just around the corner. Sometimes it just barely misses you. Sometimes it hits you head-on. It’s how you react (or pro-act) that will make or break you.

However, sometimes we have to be hit–even head on–in order for us to be better persons. I watched The Last Journey of Ninoy on TV last night. In one interview, Ninoy Aquino says that in a way he’s thankful he had been imprisoned for seven years and seven months. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been more appreciative of freedom, and he wouldn’t have known God as he had at that time. We humans don’t want pain and adversity. But sometimes, these are what shape and mold us to be what we are. Sometimes we turn out worse. But the goal here is for us to be better.

There’s this analogy of the blacksmith burning the metal to its melting point, and then pounding, folding an shaping, and then suddenly cooling it in frigid water. Then the process is repeated over and over until the desired shape is achieved. We are also like this. We experience all kinds of heat, frigidness, and even pounding from all sides. Do we turn out as sharp, expertly crafted steel blades? Or do we remain as molten, ugly pieces of metal?

The answer is up to you.

Some of these situations turn out for the better. Some would leave you scarred for life. But for those situations in which you can gain the upper hand, I suggest you do grab the opportunity while it’s still within reach.