Hope

A picture tells a thousand words, they say. Indeed!

This was photographed on Sunday, November 3, 2024 at 15:37.

I don't even think this photo does it justice. It was so beautiful in real life. The weather seemed unusual, to say the least. Almost as if there was an impending storm. The wind eventually picked up a bit and the clouds moved along. There was no storm. The sunset was gorgeous.

Sometimes, in life, when an unexpected event occurs and it catches us off-guard, we might feel all kinds of emotions. Nobody ever plans for these curveballs but we got to deal with it. The future might look dark. The future might look heavy. It might even look like the situation will get worse. Never let your thoughts run away like that because the direction of the wind will change. When you are in a tough spot, don't dwell on the harshness of the situation. I know it's not easy, but be thankful you are experiencing the hardship, as in it, is a lesson, just for you.

In these trials, you are taught patience and perseverance. Patience: the ability to handle difficulties without getting angry or upset. Perseverance: the continued effort to achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. If you get angry or upset, you will not be able to handle the difficulties successfully. In order to be successful in the difficulty, you have to be composed and have a calm mindset. Then only, will you make the best decisions - because you're thinking with your head and not your heart. Without patience, you cannot persevere. You're unable to keep going. When you have mastered patience, you will develop the ability to keep trying, to never give up, to hang in there, to achieve greatness. That's perseverance.

In a parent-child relationship, if a child is trying to use a pair of scissors, and he is struggling a little, instead of motivating him and verbally guiding him, the parent takes the scissors and finishes up, whatever the child was cutting. The child has learnt nothing. Not patience, not perseverance and certainly, not how to use a pair of scissors. If he was told, "take your time son, go slow, take a rest, focus on the line, you can do it", he would have tried and tried, until he achieved success. So if you never ever face hardship, you never ever learn anything.

It may seem dark now. The heavy clouds, whatever your clouds may be, will soon move. The wind will change direction. Admire the silver lining, because it's there. There is always a silver lining. As in this photograph, the silver lining is captured so beautifully, so is it with whatever difficulty you face. As in this photograph, you see the rays of sunlight so clearly, as the gentle winds move the clouds away, so will hope be reflected in your situation. Hope is the rays of sunlight pushing through. Hope is the possibilities that lie ahead. The sunrays are numerous and lengthy, as are the possibilities of your situation.

Ultimately, if you master patience, you master success. When you persevere, you will never fail - because you will try until you achieve success. These things are allowed to occur because you are loved and because you are special and these are the lessons you need to learn to become a complete and able human being. As in the parent-child example, why would they not allow their child to become the best version of himself...

Your perseverance, will allow the storm, to pass you by, and your sunset, will... be... beautiful!