Though it's often difficult to let go of the rejections that crushed us, the weight of the people that hurt us, and the losses and personal shortcomings that left us broken; we have to. We will miss the opportunities and gifts waiting ahead of us, if we continue to hold the magnifying glass down to the pains behind us or the distractions around us.

As long as we hold on to the burdens of bitterness, we will never have space to harness or see the beauty of our blessings.

Be thankful that we not only got through difficult times, but also thrived in spite of them. Be proud of the endurance, strength, humility, and understanding we gained and focus on the fruits of them all.

Accepting and adapting to the ironies of life is like realizing all beautiful flowers have to experience rainy days to grow. We have to feel pain to seek the cleansing freedom in joy, we have to experience death to truly appreciate and see the futility of life, and we have to lose friends, motives, and mindsets to find our truest selves.

Every peak and valley has the power to teach us something, even if we don't originally understand why it's there or think we deserve it. At the end of the day, it's not what we're looking at. It's how we look at it.