a quote I wanted to share:

[Jennifer5]

"Your journey has molded you for the greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don't think that you've lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time." -Asha Tyson

This quote best describes the way I view my life. Every hardship has been a blessing in disguise.

[Gennee]

I like the quote because it describes my life. I have been pleasantly nudged along where now I am at my present place in my journey.

Gennee

[awediot]

Originally Posted by Jennifer5

"Your journey has molded you for the greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don't think that you've lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time." -Asha Tyson

This quote best describes the way I view my life. Every hardship has been a blessing in disguise.

I think God can wring water from a stone and help us find the good in any horrible event, but that does not mean everything is a blessing in disguise and was ordained by Him to occur... I might be a better person today had -X- not occurred.

[Alecto]

It's not about pretending there's not bad in the world, it's about locus of control, and giving yourself permission to screw up. Cause mistakes happen, and if you're hung up on OMG NOT MAKING THEM EVER AGAIN, you're setting yourself up for heartbreak. If you can make a point to learn from each one though, then yeah, you can move forward a better (or at least wiser? better informed? more cautious? less cautious?) person.

[awediot]

Originally Posted by Alecto

It's not about pretending there's not bad in the world, it's about locus of control, and giving yourself permission to screw up. Cause mistakes happen, and if you're hung up on OMG NOT MAKING THEM EVER AGAIN, you're setting yourself up for heartbreak. If you can make a point to learn from each one though, then yeah, you can move forward a better (or at least wiser? better informed? more cautious? less cautious?) person.

Calvinism believes that God ordained all things for a greater good. Every "hardship" is a blessing. Every murder and rape, abortion and beaten wife is exactly how He wanted it because it will make you what you are destined to be in the future... That is the same tone I get from the quote, and I disagree.

And I don't particularly attribute our "sins" to simply screwing up out of ignorance, nor do I think giving ourselves permission to do so is a healthy thing. That sets us up... Learning restraint and perseverance comes after understanding what right and wrong is... Then we can admit we chose to do wrong while knowing better, beat our self up a little as we should, repent of the harm we willingly caused and accept the grace of forgiveness... We are supposed to learn from our incorrect actions, but how often do we need to repeat some of them before we learn they hurt? Ignorance isn't our problem.

[Alecto]

It seems we're both products of very different life experiences.

[awediot]

Originally Posted by Alecto

It seems we're both products of very different life experiences.

...and yet share the want of a better, easier, more loving, forgiving and charitable world.

I'm sure I read more into the quote than intended. I do see the comfort and beauty in it. -But I also tend to pick up on how the world might abuse it, and am compelled to point it out as an effort to give heads up...

[Jennifer5]

Originally Posted by awediot

I think God can wring water from a stone and help us find the good in any horrible event, but that does not mean everything is a blessing in disguise and was ordained by Him to occur... I might be a better person today had -X- not occurred.

I don't think that everything is a blessing in disguise. I do think that everything in my life so far, has been good for me in the end. I have a friend who was sexually abused by her step-dad, I don't there is any silver lining there. I have a mom who has been very abused in life, she's gotten past most of that now, but it doesn't make it right. The things I've been put through are much easier to get over and are things that you can learn from.

Originally Posted by awediot

...and yet share the want of a better, easier, more loving, forgiving and charitable world.

I'm sure I read more into the quote than intended. I do see the comfort and beauty in it. -But I also tend to pick up on how the world might abuse it, and am compelled to point it out as an effort to give heads up...

You bring up an interesting point. However, I don't think that when someone puts an supposedly inspiring quote out there, they don't ever intend for someone to come along and turn it into something negative.


Our ability to see a hardship as a blessing has a lot to do with our ability to learn from those hardships. The way my father treated my family would not have been a good thing in the end if we all just became victims. We didn't though, we built a life without him and turned that pain into a strong relationship with one another. When you can move past everything to turn something bad into something good, I believe that the bad thing becomes a 'blessing in disguise'.

[Alecto]

I think it's almost oversimplifying to use the phrase "blessing in disguise", and I'm not about to go around thanking all of the people who have abused myself and my friends in my life. I can take a moment to step back and recognize that people tend to be hardwired to deal with such abuse (emotional, physical, ,sexual, by family, institutions, society at large) by helping to make sure it doesn't happen to other people. And I can see some good in that.

And awe, yeah, I can also recognize that some people are going to use anything they can as an excuse. But why let them dictate our conversation, y'know? They're going to take the same message from pretty much any quote, and if they can't, they'll just dismiss it.

[kara speltz]

Originally Posted by Jennifer5

"Your journey has molded you for the greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don't think that you've lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time." -Asha Tyson

This quote best describes the way I view my life. Every hardship has been a blessing in disguise.

Dear Jennifer: I'm with you on this quote. When I look back at some of the really difficult times in my life, I can see how they led me to where I am now, and I am grateful. Kara