Disguised Blessings

What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.          ~ Oscar Wilde 

Several posts seem to be buzzing around in my head.  I tried to stay focused enough to get one of them written.  I am also starting back to the new school year as an instructional assistant in Early Childhood Education.  This week was meeting and arranging the classroom.  I rearranged one section of the room 3 times.  Teacher observed that a lot of the stuff was still messy.  I couldn't agree more but I set the healthy boundary that I am not responsible for how she decide to utilize my efforts.  The blessing is I am learning to set emotional boundaries.  I am letting go of the feeling that I am responsible to have the room ready for Monday when the students arrive.  I do not need to spend my Saturday correcting her choice to have me move furniture around instead of preparing for classes to start.  Fairly minor stuff but interesting to see how I have improved in boundary setting.  

Thinking about Oscar Wilde's quote the experience that comes to mind first was having cancer.  I actually passed out the first time I said the words, "I have cancer."  When I did my photography show about cancer with the gratitude quilt, I realized that all though having cancer is lousy, it turned out to be a blessing to me.  I am also reading about others that have awful experiences in their lives.  I am coming to the conclusion that everyone has trials.  Everyone suffers.  Everyone experiences pain.  Everyone is a very big group.  (Tiny quote from KavinCoach.)  Some trials are minor annoyances, others hit horrific proportions.  The trials is not the deciding factor in people's lives.  I am learning that what people do in reaction to those experiences might turn a bitter trial into a blessing or it can just turn bitter.  Most of my life I have felt powerless.  Cancer showed me how little power I had about choosing what happened to me.  Looking back, I realized my power was in what I chose to do about it.  Looking back almost 11 years ago the disguise fell away, I see the blessing of cancer. I don't wish cancer on anyone, I do hope that those struggling will find the blessings disguised in the bitterness.