Struggle Well

I learned a new term today: struggle well.

This sounded perplexing at first because the term sounds somewhat oxymoronic: what exactly could the well part of a struggle be?

But then I thought more about it: to struggle well could simply be about figuring out how to make the most of a challenging situation. Specifically addressing the questions: “how can I grow from this — how can I emerge from the situation thriving?”

Several years ago, a major life event left me with intense feelings of anxiety. My version of struggling well was deciding to view the situation as an opportunity to practice managing those anxious thoughts, however imperfectly, and permitting myself to enjoy other parts of life.

“Decide” is the operative word here.

We cannot control the struggles we’re faced with, but we are empowered to choose how we view and tackle them.