December 30th - Might suffering force me to grow in new and important ways?

The story...

Physical limitations forced me to adapt to a new reality.  Emotional and mental processes took time to both grieve the losses and accept my new condition before moving on.  Later, I enjoyed my new environments, habits, activities, and relationships that're part of a new life.  It seems that I can both retain my memories of the past and enjoy new learnings and blessing too.  Is it possible that my physical limitations are forcing me to change and grow in new, good, and important ways?  

The only church in town will teach you how Abraham, Gideon, and David died at ripe old ages.  I assume that being ripe means having fully experienced what life had to offer - resources put to use.  Maybe we'll take our life experience, trusting God, on into eternity - seems right.

Just for today...

"The unpleasant things other people say or do have no power to destroy my peace of mind or ruin my day unless I permit it . . . I suspect I may have benefited from my pain. But those benefits are no longer worth the prices . . . There is a beautiful person within me who has no need to build an identity around suffering . . . I won't waste another moment feeling sorry for myself."  Courage to Change (p. 365)

"I don't have to do or fix everything."  Hope for Today (p. 365)