There’s Beauty in the Struggle
“There’s beauty in the stuggle” words from one of my favorite artist, J.Cole. I’m here to tell you the struggle is what makes us who we are. Often times, people think successful people had it easy. Success does not come alone, success comes from failure after failure. “Break downs create break throughs”. Everyone living has their own kind of struggle, everyone is fighting there own battle. Struggles are what build you. Struggles are the things that prove the kind of person you are. But most importantly struggles show the potential of who you can be.
You look at my life in present time and you’d probably think, “Damn Pablo has it all figured out, he’s doing pretty good for himself.” WRONG. I’ve struggled over and over again but my struggles helped me get to where I am today. I struggled and failed so many times I’ve lost count. Many times I found myself so overwhelmed by my struggles as if the weight of the world was thrown on my shoulders. It’s the struggles that made me who I am.
My 3rd year at MSU really pushed me as an individual. I had so much on my plate, so many commitments and not enough time. I literally pushed myself to exhaustion. I was struggling in my classes not really sure what I wanted to purse in regards to my degree. My work load was overwhelming and top of that my life took a turn for the worse…
I still remember that night sitting there on the couch of my apartment surrounded by my friends when I got the phone call. “We lost him, we lost your cousin.” My heart just sunk. I was broken and at that moment in my life it felt like everything froze…I was lost for words and just felt the tears roll down uncontrollably. I had lost my cousin. I had lost the person I considered my little brother. My life took a complete turn. I experienced a struggle that I didn’t know really how to cope with. This was the first major lost that I personally experienced in my adult life. I remember having an exam that next morning, which I completely bombed. I struggled so hard in all my classes from then on. I even remember thinking of dropping out.
All I remember was that I wanted to be alone. I wanted this to be a nightmare that I would wake up from and everything would be ok. I wanted it all to be over…If you saw me during that period of time, you’d think nothing was wrong with me. That’s something I was good at; pretending like everything was fine when it wasn’t. I felt so alone during that time in my life, I felt the world had me in a chokehold with no signs of releasing me. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I contemplate suicide. All these different factors made me feel so empty inside. I was at one of my lowest point in life during this period of time. I remember days just laying down on my bed looking up to the ceiling and just tears rolling down my cheeks crying quietly. The worst feeling in life is feeling alone in a world of 7 billion people. The feeling and emotions I was experience was overwhelming and just couldn’t take it anymore, I really needed help. So in April of 2014, without telling anyone, I checked myself into the counseling center at my school.
The counseling center helped me when I was in a dark place. They help me put things into perspective. One, being that I matter. Second being that I was here at MSU for a reason and that no matter how lonely or lost I feel, I am not alone. Going through this struggle taught me that life is going to put you in situation that seem sometimes unfair, sometimes just wrong. No matter what the best thing one can do is push through all of it. Life can be described as a storm. If you endure the storm better days are to come.
I look back at this part of my life as lesson in disguise. It taught me that everyone, no matter how strong you think you might be, can break down. It taught me that everyone can fall. But just as children that are learning to walk, we must have the courage to keep on getting up no matter what it takes. We are all put on this world to do great things. I truly believe everyone has the potential to be amazing. Life may seem unfair at times. Life may put you through you struggle after struggle. It is how you take those and learn & grow from them that make people so amazing. Struggle are, as a friend once told me, “Minor setbacks for a major come up.” Like I said before, everyone has their own struggle, everyone is fighting their own battle, so please be kind. The world needs more love and positivity. So let’s talk with one another with the intention of listening to understand rather than listening to talk back. My life nowadays has changed completely. I’ve grown and learned from all the struggles I’ve experienced. I know down the road more struggles will come my way but that’s the beauty of life. We learn and we grow. There truly is beauty in the struggle….

R.I.P Luigi
(Circa 2012)