Life is full of ups and downs
The road is never smooth
Detours lurk here and there
Unpaved roads everywhere

I used to think that for some
The road was smooth most of the time
That is was my road that was so hard

I used to think if someone seemed happy on the outside
They were happy all the time

I used to think that my suffering was unique to me
My struggles only mine
I used to wonder why me
Why now…

Now I know all the obstacles were blessings in disguise
Now I know that there is no such thing as a smooth road in life

I used to think there is only one way to do things right
I used to feel paralyzed at a fork in life
What if I made a mistake?
What if I chose the wrong way?

Now I know all I needed to do was to make a start
There are many roads that lead to the same place
And sometimes we need to go the wrong way to find the right one!

I used to think
What if I make a mistake?
What a giant waste of time
But now I know that mistakes are essential parts of life

I used to think I knew what’s best for me
That I was usually right
But I now know that I’m here to learn with an open mind

Lida Berghuis
November 14th, 2013