Mental Strength
When you face a struggle in life, instead of feeling unfortunate or unfair, see it as a chance to learn and to grow your mental strength. See that as a God given opportunity to strengthen our faith.
Without struggle, you won't get to grow your faith and dependence in God. It's a blessing in disguise. When you start thinking life is unfair, instead of feeling sad and sorry for yourself, accept the situation and see this as a challenge for yourself.
Forget about the future. Just focus on your next step. Then your next step. Inch by inch. Eventually you claw your way out. Ask Jesus to help you to move forward in your next step with ultimate faith in Him.
A daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn't know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes and eggs and placed them in separate bowls. He then ladled the coffee out and into a cup.
Turning to her, he asked. "Daughter, what do you see?"
"Potatoes, eggs and coffee," she hastily replied.
"Look closer" he said, "and touch the potatoes." She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
"Father, what does this mean?" she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, and hard, but in boiling water became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile with the thin outer shell until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
"Which one are you?" he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
In life, things happen around us and to us. What matters is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is about learning, adapting and converting the struggles we experience into something positive.
Reflect on a negative situation in your life. What is God teaching you about handling that situation? Pray to God to give you mental strength to face tough challenges of life and overcome successfully with full dependence on Him.