When the sky turns grey

Life doesn’t always arrive with flowers in hand. Instead, sometimes, it knocks on your door with a storm in its eyes and mud on its shoes. It doesn’t ask permission and doesn’t wait for you to be ready. It simply enters loudly, awkwardly, and often painfully. Thus, while we may long for the light, we must also learn to sit through the thunder.
Not every experience in life is pleasing. We are taught to chase happiness as if it were a golden trophy at the end of a clean, straight path. Billboards, movies and social media all whisper the same song: Be happy. Be successful. Be okay all the time. However, there is a secret they don’t advertise: the road is rarely smooth.
More often, it twists and crushes. Some days it floods while other days it disappears entirely. You find yourself walking barefoot over broken glass, wondering if you took a wrong turn. But you did not, it is just a speed hump that you jumped over!
In fact, there will be days when laughter doesn’t come easily and when the sky outside mirrors the one inside you. There will be relationships that fracture, dreams that pause, and chapters that end far too soon. These moments won’t post well on Instagram as they won’t earn applause. However, they are the learnings that you wanted. They teach you that failure shows you what you are made of when the applause dies down. Pain cuts us out, making space for something new.
Pain has a strange chemistry; it transforms us in the shadows. It strips away the excess and returns us to what matters. Think of the farmer pruning, burning and tearing up the soil. It looks like destruction. But it is preparation for new growth and stronger roots. So it is likewise with us. The losses, the struggles, the unwanted changes; they break the surface, but enrich the core of us.
Though pain is not noble, it often prompts reflection and redirection. Hard times can clarify our values, deepen our relationships, and shift our priorities. What is meaningful is not always what is easy. Sometimes, the most unpleasant experiences lead us to the most meaningful paths. As well, growth comes from challenges.
Often, the most profound personal growth happens in our most difficult moments. We discover our resilience when we are forced to face challenges. We gain perspective after loss. These are not pleasant lessons, but they are deeply valuable.
Think of the times in your life that truly shaped who you are. Chances were the moments that tested you, stretched you, and required you to dig deep. You don’t have to enjoy the unpleasant moments and experiences, but you can respect them.
You can trust that even the darkest night contributes to the dawn. We often try to skip over pain, but to live fully is to cry when it is time to cry, to mourn, to question and then to rise.
You are not born to feel good all the time. You are here to feel everything, to be split open and stitched back together a hundred times, until your soul becomes a collaged cover of all the things you have survived.
Not every experience in life is pleasing, but every experience is part of the story: the bitter days and the sweet ones. The seasons of waiting and the nights you did not think you would get through are all threads in the same fabric.
One day, you will look back not with regret, but with respect for the moments that cracked you open and let the light in. We grow not only through joy but also through struggle. By letting go of the myth that life must always feel good, we open ourselves to the truth that it is rich, layered, and ultimately, more meaningful. When we embrace the full complexity of life, we learn to live it more fully.