Joy and Sorrow

I believe that our time here on earth gives us the opportunity to grow spiritually. We can experience much personal growth because of all the suffering, worries, and difficulties we have to go through during our mortal lives. It is God's way of fine-tuning us so we become more compassionate, more caring, more loving, and more aware of others' pain. After all, how could we ever dry the tears of others if we had never cried ourselves?

We all find ourselves in the valley of despair sometimes. It may sometimes seem that we are forever worrying, learning lessons, suffering pain, and facing challenges. But we must try to remember that the fertilizer that helps us "grow" is in those valleys, not on the mountain tops.
During the times that we feel scared and confused, we will always end up wiser and we will grow more from the experiences. We will understand more about people and life, become more sensitive, and we'll be able to enjoy life more after we go through the hard times.

We have to experience sadness so that we may better measure joy. Life has a way of balancing the sorrow with the joy, the disappointments with the hope, and the emptiness with the meaning.

An aching heart is but a steppingstone
To greater joy than you've ever known,
For things that cause the heart to ache
Until you think that it must break,
Become the strength by which we climb
To higher heights that are sublime,
And feel the radiance of God's smiles
When we have soared above life's trials.
So when you're overwhelmed with fears
And all your hopes are drenched in tears,
Think not that life has been unfair
And given you too much to bear.
For God has chosen you because,
With all your weaknesses and flaws,
He feels that you are worthy of
The greatness of His wondrous love.
So welcome every stumbling block
And every thorn and jagged rock;
For each one is a steppingstone
To God, who wants you for His own.
For discipline in daily duty
Will shape your life for deeper beauty;
And as you grow in strength and grace,
The clearer you can see God's face;
And on the steppingstones of strife,
You reach at last eternal life.