Recently, while scrolling through our social media news feed, a picture of Emilio Estevez popped up along with the fully-grown actors from The Mighty Ducks trilogy. It was quite nostalgic seeing them together geared up, even if they’re not complete.
While going through the comments, some netizens said that it would’ve been nice to also see some of the other core original Ducks like Charlie (Joshua Jackson) and the lovable Goldberg (Shaun Weiss).
While actor Jackson has moved on to other Hollywood projects and pursued his love for acting and storytelling, Weiss has had quite a rough journey as an adult. The latter was not in the photoshoot because he struggled with substance abuse and recently graduated from drug court. To date, the actor has already celebrated a year of sobriety and is on his way to rebuilding his life.
Rough Spots Are a Part of Life
We all have our fair share of challenges and trials. We all went through tough times. Not one living soul on this planet can ever say that life has always been awesome to them.
Life respects no one. It will give you a bad hand no matter how unfair you think the cards have been dealt. It doesn’t care about your age, gender, race, religion, political inclination, financial or social status, education, or whatever background you have. When it has you in its crosshairs, expect to get hit. There is no avoiding it. You cannot run or hide. It will get you when it wants to, how it wants to.
A lot of people are screaming out about how life is unfair to them. People who either experience some sort of social injustice or are disgusted by it take it to the streets or online to plead their cause and advocacy. While those are good platforms for their voices to be heard, people need to do more than protest on the streets or go hashtag-crazy on Twitter. For one, street protests can go horribly wrong and result in riots, looting, and injuries. Twitter, on the other hand, is not the real world. People need to realize that. Just because a hashtag goes viral doesn’t mean it is always—or should be—taken seriously. While seemingly noble, humanitarian, and altruistic, both methods can be more harmful and divisive to any community.
Developing Resilience
When someone experiences any form of injustice or even some sort of personal loss and tragedy, they should learn to accept it and take responsibility for their recovery. How a person responds will determine how fast they can get back up again.
Some people who suffered financial loss and declared bankruptcy had to get hard money loans for bad credit to improve their standing and gradually rebuild their lives.
Business owners who closed their doors during this pandemic did not sulk and feel sorry for themselves. They found ways to adapt to the new normal and kick open doors to create opportunities amid the health crisis. Doing so not only continued to provide for their needs but also gave other struggling folks a chance to earn.
The loss of a loved one is always a terrible thing. Sometimes, people never actually fully recover from it but only learn how to deal with the trauma and grief. Withdrawing from the world does nothing. Embracing the loss by remembering the dearly departed’s life and celebrating it makes it easier to go through life despite the pain.
Then you have those who are brokenhearted, servicemen who have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the homeless, the orphaned, those whose possessions have been taken away and left with virtually nothing.
That’s a tough place to be in. It can be pretty overwhelming to think about how a person can recover from it. Imagine spending your entire life building a good life, and it all comes crashing down. How would you respond?
If you think you’ve hit a personal rock bottom in whatever aspect of your life, we’re here to tell you not to lose hope. It may sound cliché, but as long as there’s breath in you, there is hope for you. Each morning you wake up is a sign that you can get a fresh start in life.
Sometimes we need to experience those setbacks and resets. The good thing about resets and setbacks is that they set you up for a fresh start and better in the next round. The mistakes and losses you experienced may be painful, but they offer a wealth of wisdom to those mature enough to recognize them.
Tips for Personal Recovery
- Accept that there are things that are beyond your control and start working on those that you can. Grieve, mourn, and cry, but don’t stay in that rut. Learn from the unfortunate circumstances and do better next time.
- Stop blaming others for your losses and misfortunes and instead channel your energy through productive endeavors. Take responsibility for what happens in your life moving forward.
- Don’t isolate yourself from the world. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and push you to be the best person you could be.
- Don’t be too hard on yourself. Allow for some laughter and fun in your life, too. Life is too short to waste on wallowing in self-pity.
- Learn to appreciate the smaller things in life while you work hard to achieve your bigger goals. Never take anything for granted, especially not the little, mostly overlooked things. Those small blessings are great reminders that life is filled with so many good things.
- Stay hopeful that you will experience your miracle. Do away with negativity but don’t buy into toxic positivity. Allow yourself to feel human but have faith that things will be okay.
Life is hard; yes, it is. Nobody ever promised that life would be a bed of roses. Even a bed of roses has its fair share of thorns. The important thing is when you’re down, you get back up and keep moving forward. Never give up on your dreams.
