Struggle

"Sometimes we forget what's important.  We struggle so long to establish ourselves that we become addicted to the struggle.  We begin to think that if we are not struggling we are not alive."


~Anne Wilson Schaef, Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much


How true is this?  In personal relationships, professional relationships, faith-relationships... the list goes on.  We all know that person - sometimes we ARE that person - who always seems to have some sort of something going on.  It's not to say that the "right" way out is the easy way out, but I think we really need to take a step back, or help those around us to step back, and try to see a bigger picture; where does the real focus belong? 


"Sometimes we have to struggle... sometimes not.  The issue is not the romance of the struggle; the issue is who WE are as we engage in it."


Are we creating the struggle because it's where we think we need to be?  Has it become our comfort zone?  Is the issue at hand a true conviction for you, or is it more of a matter of pride? 


Reuven Hammer says "It is prayer that restores to us the ability to feel, to see, and to appreciate."


When we find ourselves in a pattern of struggle, we must pray.