Life Emerges

(source)

I was talking with someone the other day and I couldn't help them with their problems.  What they were experiencing and the stress that they were about to take on was/is tremendous, and no words of comfort would really suffice.

And then I thought about something.  I thought about giving birth.  And how sometimes what we experience in life is just like it.

I give birth naturally, and although I believe that every woman should do what she feels is right (epidural or not) to her if she is educated in all her choices, I have to give props to those of us who go through that kind of pain un-medicated. And frankly, I am always surprised with the fact that I did it, knowing how painful it was and remembering how painful it was.  And I was so lucky that complications did not happen so the ability for me to labor naturally was there. 

But regardless of your laboring method, there is a pivotal point in all labor after you have transitioned.  You hear about it.  You know it is coming.  But even in that moment, with all your preparation, nothing can prepare you for the feelings and thoughts that will come into your mind. 

The pain is so intense and so grueling that you tell yourself you can't do it anymore.  You tell yourself you want out of the situation.  You can't bear it.  You want to turn back time.  You want the pain to stop.  Even though you also know the amazing miracle you will receive if you push on...you still want out. You beg for it to stop because you just can't comprehend how you could move forward.

You feel like you are dying.

But then, after you have felt that kind of death in every sense of the word and you push through that pain, life emerges.  There is relief.  There is joy.  There is satisfaction in what you have accomplished. There is a miracle.

And although the pain doesn't end there... because there is still a new life to care for with growing pains and sleepless nights and huge grocery bills... you did conquer that agony and fear and tremendous trial. 

What you experience, whether in giving birth, or in heart-wrenching life trials...is a fierce and powerful push against death to bring about life. 

And there is hope in that.