{"id":130,"date":"2011-03-07T09:52:13","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T09:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/movingbeyondaddiction\/2011\/03\/nobody-said-life-would-be-easy.html"},"modified":"2011-03-07T09:52:13","modified_gmt":"2011-03-07T09:52:13","slug":"nobody-said-life-would-be-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thecelebritytherapist\/2011\/03\/nobody-said-life-would-be-easy.html","title":{"rendered":"Nobody said Life Would be Easy"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It’s a funny thing we do to ourselves when we become convinced that, by
\nand large, our lives should flow rather seamlessly. We should be happy the
\nmajority of the time and things should generally work out well for us.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Then reality slaps us upside the head and says, “Who gave you that
\nstupid idea?” This is a disconcerting moment. But, if we’re honest, it
\nhappens to be true. Some of the nicest, most caring people in the world
\nexperience genuine heartache and tragedy every day. Trying to make sense of
\nthis has led us to such debates as “why do bad things happen to good
\npeople?”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

A good question, except that it doesn’t really point in you in any
\ndirection that is going to be particularly satisfying once you reach the end of
\nthe conversation. Maybe life was never really supposed to be a walk a park. 
\n‘Maybe it is meant to be challenging and painful at times. But all of that is
\nmeant to produce something much bigger and more fulfilling in each of us as
\nindividuals.” says Meridith Watkins from Recovery View.  It comes down to the existential search for meaning in life,
\nsomething far deeper than most of us care to delve into. But it is important,
\nnonetheless, that we do.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In the midst of perhaps the worst human tragedy in recent history, the
\nHolocaust of WWII, Victor Frankl survived his days in the most lethal
\nof concentrations camps, Auschwitz and Dachau, being curious about how
\nthese unthinkable circumstances affected his humanity and those of the men
\naround him. <\/span><\/p>\n

  <\/span><\/p>\n

He writes, “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the
\nmen who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece
\nof bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof
\nthat everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human
\nfreedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to
\nchoose one’s own way…<\/span><\/p>\n

  <\/span><\/p>\n

[I]n the final analysis it becomes clear that the sort of person the
\nprisoner became was the result of an inner decision, and not the result of camp
\ninfluences alone. Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such
\ncircumstances, decide what shall become of him — mentally and spiritually… It
\nis this spiritual freedom — which cannot be taken away — that makes life
\nmeaningful and purposeful.”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

To see this hope and resolve emerge from one of the worst human
\ntragedies in history is beyond remarkable. And yet it also provides hope for
\neach of us, no matter what hardship or personal pain we currently find
\nourselves neck-deep in. We have a choice, a decision to make: what will we do
\nwith it? <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sherry Gaba, LCSW, is a Licensed Psychotherapist and Life and Recovery Coach in Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Malibu, Calabasas and on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.  Contact Sherry at sherry@sgabatherapy.com to learn more about her book signings, workshops, coaching packages, and teleseminars.  www.thelawofsobriety.com  www.sgabatherapy.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  It’s a funny thing we do to ourselves when we become convinced that, by and large, our lives should flow rather seamlessly. 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