We all have our own struggles in life and mine is my mental illness. Due to the severity of my illness, there are often things it keeps me from doing. The expense associated with my medical bills means I could never be a religious sister. It means I have limits on how much I can handle in a day. Most of the time I can handle this fact, we all have our crosses and burdens to bear, I am no different. However, on one such occasion upon discovering I wouldn’t be able to pursue something that meant a lot to me due to this, I couldn’t help but burst into tears. I went to Fr. Dave for advice and caught up in emotion felt myself saying, “life’s not fair.”
 
We are used to hearing this from little kids. Used to lecturing them on how life isn’t fair while still doing our very best to make it so, but as adults, sometimes we try to pretend like we don’t also still think this, but we do. Why did my mom die to cancer, while hers was healed? Why is my daughter struggling with infertility while thousands of abortions happen every day? To our small human minds, it makes no sense. Life isn’t fair. Whether we have ever stated the obvious or not, it is true. God knows it is true, but He is there helping us along the way.
 
The words of wisdom Fr. Dave spoke to me were exactly what I needed to hear. “You’re right, life’s not fair. It’s not fair that due to your suffering you have an intense awareness of other people’s needs and compassion. It’s not fair that God has blessed you with such a close personal relationship with Him.” These words struck me hard. They weren’t just to make me feel good, they were true. Out of suffering has been born all the major graces of my life. All of my gifts and talents have come from this. The way I can so easily relate to Jesus on the cross. I wouldn’t trade my suffering for anything in the world if it meant I would lose all the gains associated with my pain.
 
It is so easy to focus on the bad instead of the good. We do it all the time. But if life isn’t fair in the bad, it also isn’t fair in the good. We weren’t created to be the same or fair in this case. We were created to be unique, beautiful, irreplaceable. Scars and all. If it isn’t fair that I have my disease, it also isn’t fair that I have all the blessings that come from my disease. Even my blessings, gifts, and talents are meant to be unique. God didn’t create illness, but He uses it for His good. So whatever you have in your life that makes you compare yourself negatively to another, instead, compare yourself to you. This may sound funny, but think about what you have MORE of than another person, instead of less. Just as true as the statement “life isn’t fair” is, so also is the fact that we have all been blessed beyond our wildest dreams, just differently. So yes, life isn’t fair, but that’s ok. God made you just the way you are for a reason. Take a chance today, and thank Him for the blessings that come through our crosses.