I’m a veteran of struggle. Over the course of my almost 60 years in this body of flesh and bones, struggle has always been there for me. Be it in my finances, relationships, business ventures and more. I used to get frustrated having a BFF named struggle. But then I had a dream.
I dream every night and they're always very detailed. I remember most of them when I wake up. One evening several years ago, I dreamt I was standing at, what felt like was the top of a waterslide where people were getting ready to grab a mat and slide down the slide, but it wasn’t that exactly. That’s just the best way I can explain it. You know how hard dreams can be to describe to another person.
What my dreaming mind felt was that I was standing at a place where inexperienced and childish souls were waiting to slide into human bodies. Each were excited and impatient to get into their new bodies, which I was handing to them. They’d take their bodies (like the mats at waterslides back in the days) and then, Yaaayyyy!!!”, down the dark tunnel they went.
I distinctively remember yelling to the crowd of childish souls gathered at this entrance point, “Don’t forget to pick struggle!!!” Over and over, as each one slid down the slide of life, I’d say, “Pick struggle!”
It was as if they had a choice to choose different aspects of their life in their bodies of flesh and bone. Like going into an arcade and picking what game you wanted to play. Or perhaps, you know how there are several slides at waterparks you can chose from? There’s the safe, no thrills children’s slides. There’s the more exciting one for the bigger kids. It has some twists and turns. But then there’s the loop da loop, fling your body all over the freakin’ place and come out feeling like a trout who’s just been tossed about by some raging rapids. And afterwards you just can’t get back to the top fast enough to do it again.
That’s what my mind conceived in this dream. I was telling these newbie souls that struggle was going to be the best, most rewarding and wisest choice to make in their new bodies.
Then I woke I up.
Was struggle really the best part of our lives? I wondered, as I lay in bed recalling the dream.
Then I had a wonderful epiphany. Yes. It. Was.
Struggle was a big part of what made me who I am today. I would have to say, struggle ranks right up there with friendships, good health and my desire to always be learning. Of course, while we’re in the midst of struggle it sucks big time. Struggle can seem to make us feel fallible. Defeated. Depressed. Anxious. But then somehow, we persevere through that struggle and look back and think, “Ok, I made it through that drama.” And we go on with our lives.
As I was writing the previous paragraph, I was reminded of a video I’ll never forget watching with my kids called, “The Pagemaster”. Macaulay Culkin is, Richard Tyler, a 10 yr. old nerdy, scared-of-everything, little boy who has to ride his bike to the store to get nails for his tree house. He runs into a thunderstorm and goes into the library to find shelter. There, he’s magically turned into a cartoon where he meets “The Pagemaster”, who proceeds to tell him, the only way out of the library is through the Exit door on the other side.
On his journey to the Exit, he’s thrown into the plots of classic literature and becomes a character in genres like horror, adventure, and fantasy. He fights Moby Dick and pirates. He’s chased by deranged hound dogs and is hunted by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He’s swallowed by a fire breathing dragon. But he survives it all and finally makes it to the library’s Exit where “The Pagemaster” is standing waiting for him.
Richard is pissed and lets out his frustrations. “Do you realize what you’ve done to me? I was nearly torn apart by a crazy doctor…I was made a slave by some mangy pirates…eaten by a fire breathing dragon…not to mention being tossed, squashed and scared practically to death!” he screams.
And here’s one of the greatest lines from a movie that has stuck with me throughout all these years. The Pagemaster opens his arms and says…
“Yet, you stand before me.”
W.O.W.
We go through life and bitch at God for all our struggles and troubles. “You made me poor, abused, financially strapped, emotionally miserable, lonely, addicted… we can fill in the story line of our lives with whatever struggles we faced here in our bodies of bone and flesh. And then God smiles and open’s up His (or Her) arms and says,
“Yet, you stand before me.”
It’s the struggle that toughens us up. It’s the struggle that makes us grow and become better people. Think back in your own life. What struggle made you who you are today? I’m sure you can list several right off the top of your head. Struggle chases away the fear and in the end, depending how we handle and accept the struggle, makes us stronger and more wise individuals.
That dream I had years ago, taught this old dog a new trick. Don’t trip off the struggle, Harry. Embrace it. Learn from it and go out and kick its ass. It’s going to make you more prepared for the next one that’s always lurking about, around the next corner.
In my book, The. Hoosier. Girl, the two main characters, Christian and Amanda, are each learning how to conquer their own struggles, unknowingly, with the help of one another. I really think you’ll enjoy their adventures!
It’s going to be released on April 14, but you can purchase it now at the pre-sale price of $9.99 and save 33% or $5 off the regular retail price of $14.99.
You can pre-order it on Amazon or other platforms at https://books2read.com/harrysneed
This is kind of cool too! As of today, because of a few pre-order sales, The. Hoosier. Girl. is already at #239 on Amazon’s Fiction-Biography List! It’s not even out yet and yet it’s ranked at at #239. Amazing. Of course, that changes daily. I’d like it to see it on the top 100 Fiction-Biography list by its release date. That can happen if more people pre-order it.
