How To Cope With The Challenges of Life

Every day brings new struggles and every struggle seems to make us smaller. People have to deal with illnesses, poverty and stress and all the consequences they bring. Frustration and regrets are silent killers that destroy bits of our soul, leaving us exposed and vulnerable. How can we find peace in adverse circumstances? How can we cope with the rodents of the spirit? It is a question that people have been asking since the beginning of all times and many haven't found the answer yet.

Think of your life as a room. A room can be dark and cluttered, musty and sad. A room can be a confining space where you feel a prisoner and where everything seems to work against you. In fact, a room can shape your own personality in the way a recipient can constrain water to its own shape. You are how you feel.

First of all, it is good to remember that you, like water, are free. You also have to remember that rooms have windows and doors. If you keep them closed, the air will get musty and hard to breathe and it will end up choking you. You might have the feeling that you are in a tight, closed environment but God had put many windows in your room. All you have to do is slow down, open your eyes wide and look for them. There might be a window right in front of you but you can't see it, because you are too oppressed by the atmosphere of the room itself.

Once you have found the window, you can draw the curtains, open it wide, and let the light and the fresh air in. You will see that the whole atmosphere changes. Our small room is surrounded by windows; that is a truth that should fill you with hope.

Now how can you find the windows? If you are so tensed and oppressed that you are most likely to miss them, you can start by praying. In the middle of all your troubles and worries, stop, take a break, close your eyes and let go. Then pray to the One who knows you and loves you deeply. Talk to Him like you talk to a dear friend and say,

"My God, the troubles in my life are choking me and stopping me from growing. I am confined to a small room with no view and no perspective. But you are great. The universe you have created is great and full of wonders. I know you have put many windows in my little room. Help me discover them. Take my hand and lead me to them. Let me feel the soft breeze on my face and smell the freshness of spring flowers. Let me discover the magic of the stars and the beauty of the rainbow. Help me let the light in and fill my black and white universe with color. Show me a world I've never seen, take me to new dimensions and unexplored frequencies. Give perspective to my life, so I don't waste it in pettiness and darkness. Let me discover the hidden magic of every day, the untold beauty of every moment. For you can do that. Amen."

Indeed, God can do that. This is where the fascinating faith journey begins.

Look More, See Deeper

A life can change in an instant. One moment we are walking on our cosy, familiar ways, where we take everything for granted, the next we find ourselves in a strange and alien realm without even comprehending how we got there. We can never tell where life is going to take us. Our small universe can grow or become even smaller over night and we can get robbed of everything we hold dear.

What can we take with us over the threshold of pain, losses and fear? What can we cling to when the crazy waves tear us away from the comfortable shore and throw us into a world of chaos and distress? Where can we find our refuge when all our fortresses crumble to the ground?

The answer is not as far as we imagine. It is, in fact, very close to us. We live in a big world, in the middle of a huge universe, full of surprises and unexpected turns. Yet this universe has a Master. The one who created it knows every single corner and every single step. He can go as deep or as high as he wishes, he can see beyond time and space, through darkness or opacity. Nothing is hidden from his eyes and nothing will ever be. The huge waves don't make him hide nor the tough winds make him tremble.

The God in whom we trust and to whom we entrust ourselves is always there, eternal and true, unchanging and unaffraid, forever faithful to the ones who reach out to him. God is not bound by anything but by his own word. The same word that once said: "Let it be light." He created rules and boundaries but he also created the magic world "beyond". He created the "law" but he also gave an alternative to it, an alternative called "grace".

To God nothing is impossible. He put the mountains in their place and ordered them to stay still but he also created the faith that can move mountains. He created the cycle of life but he also created the spirit that can defy the shadows of death. He created everything and he re-created himself, the one who had never been created, in each of ourselves. And in everything he created, he put a little of the love that surrounds him, the love that defines him.

So how can we be oppressed by time when times bows down in front of our friend and our father? How can the circumstances of this life knock us down when we walk hand in hand with the one beyond life and circumstances? How can we be scared of death when the one stronger than death promised he'd be with us forever?

It is all a question of perspective. If we see only here and now, we let ourselves be swallowed by here and now. If we set our mind on earthly things, we cling to them and make them our treasure. And 'Where thy heart is, there shall thy treasure be also.'

So look above and seek beyond, and see God in all. Where there is trust, there is no worry. Where there is faith, there is no fear. Where there is love, there is no falling.