Hardship and ease come together (DW#414)
Sura Inshirah: Truly with hardship comes ease! [Quran: 94:5]
Such a beautiful and hopeful verse of the Quran! And the phrase is repeated in the next verse for emphasis.
While we often read that there is a silver lining in the clouds, that hard times eventually pass, this verse reminds us that there is relief and ease not after a trial or challenging time, but right along with it.
Truly with hardship comes ease.
When we are going through tough times and challenges, we sometimes get tunnel vision: our focus narrows only to the pain or the challenge and we fail to notice things that are working as they should or are in fact working for our benefit. When our knees are hurting for example, we may not notice that the rest of our body is in fact, pain free. We begin to lose perspective and begin to see our whole life in terms of the challenge or the difficulty.
At times like this, it is useful to remember that no matter how bad things may seem at a given time, that although the wrong may be capturing our attention to a greater extent, that is not the entire story.
Surviving challenges and thriving during difficult times requires that we expand our focus – that we begin to pay attention to the blessings that we still enjoy, to what is still going right in our lives, to the ease amongst the difficulty.
This does not mean that we minimize the challenge or ignore the pain. Not at all. It means that we have a realistic perspective, that we put the problem or the challenge in its place rather than allow it to take over our entire awareness.
That we continue to notice the ease amongst the hardship.
People who have been through some really tough times often get this. They report that during the toughest and most challenging times, what they became present to was the love, support and kindness of friends and family, of how some things seem to magically work out even while a major part of their life appeared to be falling apart.
People who survive and thrive during life’s challenges get that Truly with hardship comes ease. And they continue to notice and be grateful for the ease even while they mourn the hardship.
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