It's all about what you choose to focus on

I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be positive in the face of struggles. It seems like everyone's searching for this quick fix, for a foolproof way to get over heartbreak, or disappointment, or failure, or brokenness.
The unfortunate truth is that there's not a simple solution. Healing takes time. And when you face something monumental, you can't simply erase it from your mind. You have to feel it, let it break you, then build yourself back up again.
This isn't easy, but it's worth it. And yet, so often I see people (including myself!!) wanting to just 'be better' with the flip of a switch, as if reconstructing our hearts is that simple.
We want to be back to our normal selves; we want to be happy without putting in the required work to get there. We rush our healing and end up feeling even more defeated—and why?
Why can't we be patient with the process?

I go back to this thought over and over again, and I truly believe the only way we can get through or over the painful moments in our lives is to acknowledge them, and then change our perspective.
We have to see the good—and not in the sense that we're clouding the bad or masking our emotions—but choosing to focus on ways we can GROW from what's tried to defeat us.

Positivity isn't this simple solution, where you plaster a smile on your face and everything's suddenly okay. It's a long, uphill battle to bring light out of darkness, hope out of emptiness, purpose out of pain.

But it's worth it. You're worth it.

And when you can begin to make peace with the craziness happening to and around you, when you start to see the blessings and lessons in every failure or closed door - that's when your life begins to change, when you become stronger, when beautiful things happen.