Transform Struggle Into Endeavor

This is a comment I posted on Deepak Chopra’s reply to a question about how to recreate a new belief about struggle.

Transform struggle into endeavor.
The narrative of endeavor is different from the struggle story.
Struggle means moving away from absence.
Endeavor means moving towards the realization of presence.

True joy is the fulfillment of a need.
Peace can be found in the endeavor of purpose,
where pity gives way to compassion and fear gives way to forbearance.
Hardship is not the nature of a spiritual quest, but it is hard for the spirit to inhabit the flesh.
Perseverance and the courage of defiance—to find and realize what you are here to be and do—will produce the creative tension of your endeavor.

Never feel sorry for yourself.
It is a waste of a precious fuel.
Resolve to make the best of your situation.
Trust that you are never alone.
Even in the loneliest hours.

Grace is always nearby,
even in what appears to be your darkest hour.
These are times when your soul is fashioned into new readiness.

Brace yourself to find all that is good,
in you and in others.
And yes, be that very thing you are meant to be.
This is a generous universe,
Your hope is its actuality,
And its hope is you, having risen to be what you are meant to be.

© Aviv Shahar