My mom and I text every morning, and one particularly snowy morning, she sent me a smiling snowman. I responded that I thought the snowman was way too happy for how cold it was that morning. She reminded me the snowman likes the cold, because without it, he wouldn’t survive.
Good point.
Sometimes our circumstances are essential to our survival and growth. Sometimes we see someone struggling through something and want to help them into other circumstances, but they need to be where they are right now in order to take the next step somewhere down the road. Perhaps even more difficult to see is someone not struggling through something and finding comfort where there should be none. In both cases, people can either choose to grow through the situation or choose to stunt their growth.
That smiling snowman didn’t actually feel happiness just as he didn’t feel pain or sadness when he melted. But we’re different. We complain in the heat and in the cold. We want to stay where we’re comfortable. We don’t want to struggle or see others we love struggle, or we wish they’d struggle through something instead of getting stuck or distracted by the wrong type of contentment or striving.
Today, wherever you find yourself and others, choose well. Love well. Grow well.
