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The Pain Stops When the Pattern Breaks
The hard stuff isn’t random. It’s required.
You ever wonder, “Why me?”
Why does it feel like life keeps coming for the people who are actually trying? Why does someone with a good heart keep getting dealt a shitty hand?
I used to wonder about that too.
As a kid, I went to a private Catholic school. Up until the middle of fourth grade, I was steeped in the idea that pain meant you were being tested. That God gave you struggles so you’d recognize your need to be saved. That suffering somehow proved your faith.
They literally call baptism “getting saved”, like being born makes you guilty, and the only way to earn grace is to suffer your way back to worthiness.
I don’t believe that anymore. I believe the pain isn’t there to make you loyal. It’s there to help you grow.
Hard things aren’t punishments. They’re prep work. Life doesn’t hate you. It’s shaping you.
You asked for strength, and life handed you resistance.
You asked for purpose, and life took away the distractions.
You asked for peace, and life exposed every single thing inside you that isn’t at peace.