Lil, I believe that to be true too. I've incorporated that thinking into my every day life. I see life as a series of lessons, opportunities for growth. My daughter in all her gfgdom,has been my greatest teacher. What I learned in the last 3 years, as I learned to detach, let go and accept are lessons that changed every single facet of my life. It was not simply me suffering over all of it with no positive outcome........certainly the outcome was not what I expected nor wanted, but underneath those desires, there was much for me to learn, about myself and my own issues of control, holding on, fear, perfectionism, being right, judgment, comparisons, living in the past and/or the future, my attachment to the outcome.........really, on and on it went.......the suffering had meaning. Then it ceases to be suffering.
"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional."
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” —Viktor Frankl
Here is a good article if you are interested: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/some-assembly-required/201401/pain-is-inevitable-suffering-is-optional
Frankl's book, Man's search for meaning, although not light reading, is very good.
You're doing a really good job Lil, in a very difficult situation.
