I thought going through a season of trials was supposed to make me better. You know, have a refining influence on me and all that. After all, trials develop endurance, which builds character, which strengthens our hope of salvation. “And this hope will not lead to disappointment, for… [God] has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
Hmm… my heart is supposed to be filled with love? Mine must be broken. Grinch-like. Two sizes too small. Because instead of making me a kinder, gentler person, all of these punches that keep coming are just making me a more bitter, cynical person. Instead of making me a sweeter, more compassionate person, the amount of suckiness of 2014 has only resulted in making thicker my book of people I want to punch in the face.
Maybe things get worse before they get better. Maybe I’m still in the anger stage of the grieving process and have yet to get to the final stage of acceptance. Then again, my “grief meter” keeps getting reset as more and more unpleasant situations enter my life in seeming perpetuity.
In any case, here are the Top 10 Posters to hang in my cubicle before I either get laid off or quit the maddening bureaucracy that is Corporate America:
10. 
9. 
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7. 
6. 
5. 
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3.
2. 
1. 
Authentically Aurora
Authentically Aurora 
I’m thinking that I could take each one of these and make a bitter post a day. It would be epic! I can’t tell you how much I relate to each and every one of these. I think I may just have to invite you to do a bitter guest post someday. (And I hate letting other people do guest posts on my blog. Because you know, they are people.)
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Hahaha… Yes, I figured you would relate to these. 🙂
I realize that I am a person (and therefore, naturally undesirable), but if you are ever on the lookout for a bitter guest post, I would be honored. “Bad morning, readers. Aurora here. It is with great dishonor that I have accepted Bitter Ben’s request for a guest post…”
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Now that is the way to start a bitter post. But I think you probably meant that you would be dishonored to do a guest post. I’ll see if I can fit you in somewhere in my really tight bitter schedule sometime.
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I have never really bought into all that wich does not kill you only makes you stronger ideology. I guess it is a coping mechanism such as any other, but I find sarcasm much more helpfull in stressing situations where the trouble seemes to pile up. Chin up, chest out, swiftly and proudly towards new disappointments, as we say here in Finland. 😉
Some people do grow stronger by the adverstities they encounter, but equally the adversities are too much for others. Should we think less of the people who could not handle the adversities? Should we not be humane and show compassion? For sure we should not put unrealistic expectations on people, that they are expected to emerge stronger from every adversity. People have every right to tire from adversities in their lives and as social animals we should be very able to help each other in such times. Is that not the sort of society we would choose to live in?
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Hi Rautakyy! Welcome back! I agree with you that adversity does not automatically make a person stronger. Rather, I think that we each have a choice about how we want to respond to trials and tribulations. I believe that we may not always be able to choose what life events happen to us during the course of our time on this earth, but we do have the choice of what we do with the circumstances that come our way.
Hardship that makes one person more compassionate may make another bitter. Trials that develop one person into a tougher, more persistent individual may result in a defeatist attitude for another. Obviously in this post I was allowing myself to wallow a bit, but ultimately, I hope to see the silver lining in my circumstances and develop into a better version of myself as a result of walking through this season of life in a gracious and discerning manner.
As you point out, showing compassion to those encountering adversities is a wonderful way of living and very often that support structure is what makes the difference between adversity resulting in greater strength or weakness!
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