Have you ever looked back at your life and wondered… how did I end up here? We all have, whether good or bad, we all reminisce… It’s human nature.

For whatever reason, most of us tend to focus on the things that didn’t go as planned. We often ponder and rack our brains about things we can’t change, but why? We’ve all heard the saying “what’s done is done”, but we still have such a hard time shaking those thoughts.

Well, we process these thoughts in one of two ways. Some people see them as reminders not to make the same mistakes or decisions again, while others give in (subconsciously) to the pressure and allow these thoughts to negatively affect their days, weeks, months, and so on.

In other words, there is a positive way of looking at past hardships and there is a negative way of looking at them.

The Negatives

There is a popular scripture (John 10:10) that states the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Whether you want to believe it or not, there are evil forces in play that don’t want you to reach your potential. If you’re not careful, you will succumb to the pressure, not take the necessary actions to move forward, and before you know it, life has passed you by.

It usually starts with something small like skipping a couple of workouts… now you haven’t been to the gym in six months, not taking time to learn that new skill that will help you get promoted, never calling your ex-girlfriend back to apologize for a mistake you made… now she’s moved on, etc. As time passes, you look back and wonder, how did I end up here?

Remember, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

The Positive

We understand that the thief is savvy, and he wants to crush us in every way, but in the second part of that scripture (John 10:10), Jesus says that he has come to give you life and that you might have it more abundantly.

This lets us know that regardless of what we are going through, there is a way out.

But why do some people hear and/or know this but still struggle?

Well, knowing the information is just part of the equation. We must also believe it and then we need to put in the work, which we all know is the hard part.

Let’s use our body as an example. Two words that come to mind for anyone on a body transformation journey are patience and sacrifice. It takes time to transform your body… sacrifice is part of the process because exercise and dieting are challenging. If you go to the gym today, you won’t notice any changes tomorrow. But, if you consistently go to the gym and work your butt off, change will come. If you eat a healthy meal today, your weight won’t change, but if you eat healthy for weeks, change will come.

The same concept applies to anything we do. Showing up and putting in the work daily, no matter how hard it gets, will yield positive results. Sometimes you may feel like you’re wasting your time, but that is part of the process. Remember the thief? He wants to kill, steal, and destroy all your dreams, hopes, desires, aspirations, etc.

Stay strong, resist the temptation of comfort, be wary of the easy route, and don’t be afraid to make sacrifices. Before you know it, you’ll look back over your life and ask yourself, how did I end up here. Only this time you’ll be happy with where you are.