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We need opposition in all things. It\\u2019s part of the great plan of happiness.  Because ironically, if we were fortunate all the time, we wouldn\\u2019t really be happy. 

I find it interesting that opposition often has this negative connotation. It\\u2019s an interesting perspective, if something opposes me and what I want, then it must be bad.  But opposition isn\\u2019t bad. It\\u2019s neutral.  It\\u2019s just the opposite.

This topic has been particularly on my mind this week as my daughter got some big disappointing news.  She has been praying and hoping all summer to be in a certain 6th grade class, with her dearest friends.  She found out she is in the class with the one teacher she definitely didn\\u2019t want, and all of her friends are in the class with the cool teacher.

She is already perceiving being lonely and left out.  And for her as a 12 year old, those social connections are her life\\u2019s joy.

As I\\u2019ve walked with her and let her cry, I remembered my own 6th grade experience.

I was put into the class with the cool teacher.  And I was there with all the coolest girls.  And I was there with my very best friend.  Everything that she wants.

But it wasn\\u2019t a good time.  At some point, for reasons that were never explained or understood, my best friend came to school one morning deciding that she hated me and she completely shunned me.  My best friend was very pretty and athletic and always the first to be picked on the kick ball teams.  And she made sure that Sabrina was not chosen until last, and definitely not on her team.  It was perplexing and so painful.  I would hear her and the other girls talking about me in the classroom, spreading rumors, picking at my worst parts.

She created and spread a virus that she named Sabrina.

It was frankly, terrible. But pivoted.  I made friends with the kids who didn\\u2019t really have other friends, I talked to the boys (because they weren\\u2019t part of the drama). I helped the teacher more.  I believe all of these things increased my social skills in general.  I also got really good at being lonely, and that\\u2019s a skill I\\u2019ve had to use more often than I\\u2019d like to admit.

Most importantly, I began to learn the skill of pivoting.

We need bad experiences because they tend to teach us the most deeply.

We benefit from bad experiences through growth and learning.

Bad luck, or trials, or disappointments and negative turns in life are a necessary and important part of life. They give us experience, instruction and growth.

They allow us to build resilience, show us other options that we wouldn\\u2019t have seen before and teach us empathy.

I\\u2019m grateful for my hard experiences.  As for my daughter, My mamma bear heart wants to save my daughter from her disappointment, but I also know that she needs it and it can be rocket fuel for her growth and life learning.

How have your hard times been rocket fuel for growth and learning?   I encourage you to think or write about an experience that was very painful, what did you learn?  Look for how you pivoted, how you grew and how that experience has helped you be good at something today.

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