Yesterday I wrote about my first rejection letter. I shared it with a writing group on social media. I wrote that I couldn’t be happier because now I know what it feels like to be rejected. I know that I can submit my writing, get rejected, and it is going to be okay. The ironic part is that even though I was being totally positive about the experience, one of the admins responded saying that getting rejected sucks.
That response only strengthened my observation that my experiences in life are neither good nor bad. They just are. I am the person who decides to make them positive or negative. I am the one who decides to wallow in negativity or grow from the experience. A person can take a horrible experience and make something positive come out of it, if they find a way to respond with God’s love and at the same time a person can take a beautiful experience and make it something negative if they react to it with anger and fear. Life is full of awesome experiences, but I am the one who shapes my own reality. God gave me that miraculous gift when He made me His child.
And I am starting to realize that it isn’t enough to just be thankful for every little stupid moment of my life. It’s so much more than that. It’s taking every experience and applying God’s love and lessons to it. It’s not letting a moment pass by without knowing that even the bad ones can bring growth and that I can bring so much more out of the good ones if I just open my heart.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
