"The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times."

I have had trials in life. No more than any other person I would meet on the street on any ordinary day. Trials are, after all, part of our existence and all of us will experience them several times during our lives. They are never easy and while some are larger than others, one truth is always there no matter what the trial may be: all trials bring a level of pain with them that takes a significant amount of time to overcome. 

I know this may seem like a strange first post for a blog, but it ties in with my reasons for starting the blog. I wish in this post not to start a list of the different types of trials people go through. Nor do I wish to compose a lengthy article about every horrible thing that has ever happened to me specifically. I would rather focus on the aftermath. The moment where I finally make it through and the overall lesson I have learned from my experiences. 

I used to walk through life being constantly weighed down by not only the trials that I was experiencing at the moment, but every single bump in the road that I had gone through up to that moment. I hated them. I wished I had never had them. When I experience such horrible events in my life I tend to give up. I lose all desire to move forward and find a way to stop living life to the fullest. It's my way of preventing any other bad things from happening. It's also a great way to make myself miserable. Last year I found the trial to end all trials. I guess it wasn't so much one big trial as it was a series of trials that kept pushing me down the second I tried to get on my feet. After so many times I just kind of figured it would be less painful to stay down, play dead, and pray that it would be over soon. (Stick with me, I'll get to my point shortly. Yes, I do have a point.)

I don't know if I can pinpoint the exact moment I found the strength to get up..........again. I guess I'm not so worried about the "when" of it all. I'm more focused on the fact that it actually happened. Let's just say it happened somewhere between anguish and total ruin. At some point the hopeful part of my personality found a way to start fighting my negative mind. It found a way to remind me of all the good things I had done. It found a way to fight that voice telling me I was a monster. And most importantly, it reminded me of my dreams. It didn't happen overnight. It was a SLOW process that took many months, but I got up. I got up.

Since then, amazing things have happened to me that wouldn't have happened had I given up. I have rediscovered who I am and what makes me happy. I've found a way to enjoy life. I can smile again! Here is my point: I have had trials in life. I am sure there are many more to come. But I no longer hate them and wish they had never happened to me. They have made me who I am. My trials have, at times, made me a stronger person. Other times they have been a catalyst to make a course correction, leading me to greater things in life. My trials have given me the experience I need to help others through their trials. I am more empathetic and sympathetic to what others are going through. I now see my trials, hard as they may be, as a blessing. But only if I get up. 

I believe that Paulo Coelho, in his book The Alchemist, was right. The secret of life is to fall seven times and get up eight. It's ok to have difficult times. It's ok to fail. That is where we learn the most about ourselves. That is where we grow. The trick is to get up and keep trying.