The Wisdom Project

Susan, age 62

What are the top 1-3 things you would like to pass on to others? How did you learn this?

One cannot avoid adversity, run from it or just muster through it. It will change a person—for better or for worse, and leaves no one the same. Some will become bitter, some angry and some will become more broken and beautiful than they were before for, when we face adversity, we are shaken to the very core of our being. Wrestling with the questions of “why me?”, “how could God allow this to happen?” or “what am I going to do to never feel like this again?”, we have a choice to become hardened, or to allow our heart to soften as we surrender to God’s plan.

You’ve seen a lot of significant events and changes over the course of your life. What wisdom can you share from your observations and experiences of the world in your lifetime so far?

This letting go of control can be so painful, and yet, when the relinquishing finally occurs, an inexplicable peace accompanies it. No longer must I fight to have my way. No longer must I scramble to make things happen. No longer am I responsible for everything. And as these burdens fall away I sometimes try to pick them back up and carry them again because they feel so familiar. But God gently reminds me to put them back down. When I carry them, I cannot be made into who He wants me to be.

What obstacles and disappointments have you faced that you were able to put into perspective, turn into a positive, and/or contribute to in a way that made things better? What did you learn from these experiences that you can share with those who did not have those same experiences?

Throughout my life, I have faced an immense amount of adversity (abuse, miscarriage, loss of a child, cancer- 2x and my husband losing his job 3x). During some of these experiences I became angry, during some of them, I was bitter. But in the end, when there was no fight in me left, I surrendered. And the result was seeing God create in me something more beautiful than anyone could have ever imagined.