Tomás TrigoWithout the hope of Heaven, we would not take a step in life".Optimistic or hopeful?What does a bird do when it finds its nest destroyed? It spent too much time building it and in a matter of minutes it has been blown apart... the cause? A strong wind, a saw, a child's slingshot... it doesn't really matter what the cause is. What we will observe is that this bird, faced with loss: it starts all over again!
Two medical specialties have increased their consultations very significantly at the beginning of the 21st century: psychiatry and plastic surgery. Dr. Enrique Rojas points out that this is a characteristic feature of our times because we want everything to be easy and we are not developing "resilience". There is a very low tolerance to frustration perhaps due to the development of technologies that today allow us to obtain what we want almost immediately. It seems that human nature requires effort to feel fulfilled. Effort builds character and laziness breeds languor.
We have been convinced that we can have it all without making an effort. When things do not go our way, frustration invades us, causing us to feel helpless and desperate. We feel devastated and paralyzed: anxiety, depression and stress rates increase. Suicidal ideation appears more frequently.
Resilience, knowing how to stand up
We will be hearing a lot about this ability that allows us to pick ourselves up after hard falls: resilience.
According to the American Psychiatric AssociationResilience is the process of adapting well to adversity, trauma, tragedy, threat, or significant sources of stress, such as family or personal relationship problems, serious health problems, or stressful work or financial situations. It means 'bouncing back' from a difficult experience, as if one were a ball or spring."
In the face of significant losses, we will take two firm handrails to hold on to: science and faith. The first one shows us our capacity to "remake ourselves", we are stronger than we think; and the second one, living it strengthens us in an inexplicable but real way.
Loss specialists point out 2 basic steps to get a fresh start:
- Focus on the positive. Avoid thinking about everything you lost or what you don't have. Consider what you do have and apply yourself to start from scratch if necessary, being grateful for every little thing that is in you and with you now.
- Discern what is in your hands and do it, write a personal growth plan. What is not in your hands, put it in God's hands. Nourish your faith.
Redeeming pain
Are you experiencing pain and frustration, loss and grief? Join Christ, who experienced all these sensations before laying down His life for you. The Word reveals that Christ From the cross he exclaims: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And later he teaches us a way to face this moral pain when he says: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit".
It is time for you to make this phrase your own and repeat it throughout each day: Into Your Hands, Lord!
Christ had to lose to win. Christ had to die in order to rise again. He shows us how pain given out of love has redemptive value.
Life is full of cycles, after bad times come good times and vice versa. So get ready to start over from love. And this time, with your experience, you will be determined not to make the same mistakes. Your new beginning will take you higher than where you were.
Before God gave the triumph to the Jewish people through Esther's action, she had prayed thus: "Help me now, for I have no one but you, my Lord and my God.
Remember: When God gives you, it is because he wants to ask you; when God asks you, it is because he wants to give you.
Have you lost everything?...start over!
