Endure

Endure

verb

1. suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently.

synonyms: undergo, go through, live through, face, suffer, sustain

tolerate, bear, abide, to remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, and recover from trauma.

• remain in existence; last. Lasting, long-lasting, abiding, durable, stable, steady, unfaltering, unwavering

 Pain, pain, go away… come again some other day.   This is personal for me, maybe it is for you also. When I think of the pain of my past or what I’m currently going through…I just want to throw in all of my towels and retreat.  Life just hasn’t been so easy for me. It’s been pretty hard, and I am not embellishing by far.  It’s the truth.  I am inclined to believe that some have just been dealt a hard hand and they have to work with just what they have in order to make life work for them. Everybody hasn’t made poor choices over and over again, sometimes you can seemingly do all of the “right” things and life still just goes left. 

You pray, you cry, you practice yoga, you meditate, you wear the right crystals around your neck, you burn all of the sage in the world, you fight, you curse people out, you take the medicines prescribed, you have the surgery, you change your diet, you exercise, you delete & block all of the toxic people you know, you mute the stories on social media to attempt to keep your mind clear of all the things that may distract you, you avail yourself to the process of going to therapy,  you go on vacay’s with the friends or your bae….you tried.  You really tried and when you tried something, it just didn’t seem to work out in your favor. And so then you are left with what?  You and your thorn.

Sometimes, we just have to suffer with a thing.  In the bible, there is a person who specifically called on God to remove (a thorn – a source of discomfort, annoyance, or difficulty) something from his life that would cause him to be weakened in an area that was unspoken in the text.  He says, that he requested 3 times that it would be removed from his life.  Yet instead of it being removed, it was explained to him that the power he needed would be maximized through his weakness. The God who he was praying to would give him more in order to endure the thorn that was apparently wearing him out. 

When we think of endurance, what comes to mind many times is athleticism. Those who play sports that require that the body be useful under strenuous conditions for long periods of time must be able to endure the pressure that is placed upon it.  Those individuals undergo training that requires much resistance which in time increases their strength and power.  They are able to go the distance for long periods of time and stay strong.

How long can you go the distance with your thorn?  How long can you stay strong while enduring the pain of the thorn which is a constant reminder that you are experiencing some fashion of pain?  Endurance isn’t necessarily applauded when others are looking at our lives and how we may be struggling with or through a situation or issue.  At some point, those closest to you will eventually frown upon the fact that you still have an issue, or that you still haven’t resolved the depression or pain that you may be feeling.  You begin to appear to be a weakened vessel who is can’t seem to find resolve for you pain.  Even if you have a disease or sickness that you can’t cure, people will walk with you for a time but even they become worn over your experience. It’s human nature. If they can’t fix you or find the antidote for your cure, they become numb to your pain.  I’ve been hard on myself to at times when I think…” you have been dealing with this crap for years”.  I too are embarrassed when I consider the length of time of some hellish paths that I have been forced to walk. But then…I have received a revelation about my ability to endure and just what that means. I was surprised by the definition of what the word endure really means.

You see, our perception of what is really happening to us is greatly affected by the truth when revealed to us.  To say that you have to endure pain, tragedies, illness and etc. can feel like you are making an agreement with life that you will live in a constant state of frustration, never experience happiness, and not experience peace of any kind.  This is not truth.

The truth about endurance is embedded in its meaning.  To endure means to be able to suffer patiently, to live through, face, sustain, to remain active for a long period of time, the ability to resist, recover from trauma,  to be durable, stable, unwavering, and to remain in existence.  Wow! I read these words and I immediately saw strength. I always associated my ability to endure as something more negative than positive.  Endurance only appealed to me as strength when conditioning the body. I never considered what the process of enduring did for the heart, mind, and the soul. 

If you have lasted through any type of trauma and are able to see it through, even with the affects that may linger after the trial, you are doing well. If you are able to see any setback through even though you may have lost everything in the fire but got out alive; you are doing well.  If you are living with a disease and you are still being treated for it year after year, and yet you are maintaining and taking care of yourself as best as possible with medical care; you are enduring a healing process.

The ability to not break under adversity and see it through for long periods of time, is an indicator that you are more stable than you give yourself credit for.  If perceived properly, your history with your thorn is surely strengthening you more than wearing you down.  “It” being in your life truly does foster strength and resistance. 

 Please let me be clear that I’m not promoting that we should struggle with things that we can correct in our lives. I am not selling the idea that we should glory in our struggles & issues. It is just how we perceive and use what has happened to us that strengthens.  Imagine how much pain an athlete must undergo when he or she is having to push through grueling work outs. They are in pain, they are frustrated, they are tired, and may even cry but they have to keep going until the workout is complete. It is not until they commit to the process of over and over and again that they begin to experience results. The benefits aren’t just the physical results but it is also mental. They are emotionally equipped to remain active for longer periods of time and tolerate the condition of their environment and however it affects the body.

Our lives are not our own. There are just some things that we completely don’t have any control over. You didn’t get to choose… your time of birth, who you were born to, whether or not you would have a disease that may cripple you for life, whether or not you have a predisposition for mental illness, whether or not you or someone you love would be diagnosed with cancer, if you will get laid off, if your spouse will leave you, and so forth.  Yet the fact remains that something will happen, things will perpetually happen to us and to those whom we love.  Life has a way of keeping us in basic training.  Basic training is a necessary training program of physical and mental preparation for service in the Army.  If we perceive this process as punishment, we will not mature and grow and be strengthened for the next opposing force that will eventually come before us. It’s important that we learn to be patient with our processes and learn to suffer patiently with some of the challenges are with us and before us.  Our ability to endure the processes, qualifies us as stable, unwavering, individuals. Endure, suffer patiently through the process. Knowing that as you remain, you are being strengthened. You will be more equipped to outlast whatever is coming next for you or for the person you love.  Endure and keep canvassing.