Why does life constantly test us???

To feel as though life hands you more things to deal with when you simply cannot handle anymore is a feeling that I have become used to. Why is it that the struggles keep coming one right after the other? Did I just live a lifestyle where this is the normal and I  just didn’t question it and went with it? It almost feels like the lessons or setbacks keep coming one right after the other before I have had the chance to catch my breath from the last one…. This is the “normal” for me, but how do I change it? Is it perception of each situation or are these things as bad as they seem? Do I need to shift how I perceive each situation?

Really the only truth in all of this, is that I would maybe not know how to manage if life was slow and did not serve up these things for us to deal with. Does that mean that I bring these things on myself? Do I in essence create the “Chaos”? I hope that is not the case…. It is hard not to wonder that sometimes though. With each experience we take from it a lesson. I have said this before and I truly believe it myself. I will take this weekend for instance…

On Friday, we had a HUGE snowstorm… Power flickered quite a few times and we ended up with 14″ of snow. With this snow, it also brought on the wind and cold. We live in Minnesota, so really we take it as it comes. Friday was a normal snowy day and we played in the snow and took in all the beauty that nature had presented us. Saturday was another cold yet great day. We played more outside and then we came in to enjoy hot chocolate and movies. I have 3 children who are 12,10 and 6. My husband was working this rare Saturday, but hey, we take it! We all were in the house when suddenly the house began to fill with smoke… It was one of the scariest things I have dealt with as a mother and we have been through a ton. I gathered the kids up and shuffled them out the door and called the fire department and they came out. The furnace was not working properly, so it was backing up into the house and it was also leaking carbon monoxide into the house as well. This was so scary…. So many things went through my mind. We could have had a fire. This could have happened a mere few hours later and we would have all been sleeping. What are we going to do with no heat now as we wait for the furnace to be fixed? There were so many more thoughts that came flooding in. I sat back later after we were able to be back in the house and thought. It could have been much worse! Others have had it much worse or still do. So in this is another life lesson that we add to the list that we have already learned. We were fortunate to have a solid plan in place to get out of the house. We were lucky that we were awake. We are more aware because of this and as much as not having heat sucks, It could certainly have ended worse…. I count my blessings each and every day. In the end my experiences are what makes me the person that I am. I would just like to know why these things happen so often to us, but I just may never know that.

For now I know that the lesson that this brought me is that I am a lot stronger than I give myself credit for. I am also a better mother than I let myself believe. I would do anything for my children and jump into action when needed.