a blessing for when you realize everyone is struggling

Blessed are you who have realized that life is hard. and it’s hard for everyone. Your awareness came at a cost. You lost something you can’t get back. You were diagnosed with chronic pain or a degenerative disease. your family fell apart and things have never been the same.

Blessed are you who gave up the myth that the good life is one of happiness, success, perfection. The life that looks beautiful on Facebook, but isn’t real. You who realize it is okay to not be okay. To not have a shiny life, because no one does.

Blessed are you who see things clearly, where struggle is everyone’s normal. You walk among the fellowship of the afflicted, a club no one wants to join.

And while this life isn’t shiny, it does come with superpowers. superpowers of ever-widening empathy and existential courage that get you back up after another fall

And a deepened awe at the beauty and love that can be found amid life’s rubble. Like flowers that grow from the cracks in the sidewalk. These virtues blossom in you. And thank God for you.

Blessed are all of us who struggle, for we are in good company, and we’ll never walk alone.

** This blessing can be found in Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection

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The Lives We Actually Have is a collection of 100 blessings to bless the ordinary, garbage, lovely, or grief-stricken days. You know, the days we actually have. So if you want a beautiful collection of blessings to return to time and again or to give to a friend, this is for you.

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