Turning pain into gain

Most of us have "grains of sand" annoyances that come into our life fairly quite regularly ... many of which can be very frustrating and even painful.


But every one of these annoyances gives us a chance to grow. Some will require great patience, others tough love, some will require turning the other cheek, some confrontation, some kindness and understanding. For example, addicts need to be treated with tough love. Bullies require us to maintain healthy boundaries. Cheaters need to be confronted. Manipulators need to be managed. Control freaks need to be resisted, guilt throwers need to be challenged, and toxic people may need to be avoided, and so on.

With God's help and loyal friends and people, if we so choose, we can turn every one of these annoying pebbles into pearls or we can allow them to make us bitter. For it is not what happens to us that matters, but what we do about what happens to us, that's what matters—and that choice is ours.

         " An irritation or pebble in an oyster turns into a pearl- that is the lesson that we should learn"
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