Eternal Traction

Like many people, I'm no stranger to trials in life and as a result this subject seems to be on my mind often. I have come to learn that the trials of life we experience are something to be grateful for because while they may seem to be doing something unpleasant to us in the here and now, they are actually doing something great for us in the long run.

One of the things they do for us, if we view and respond to them properly, is propel us forward along a path. Adam and Eve knew this, despite feeling sorrow for the transgression they had committed and the mortal sorrow that soon followed after being exiled from the garden of Eden. They came to realize that passing through sorrow was necessary if they were to be able to recognize between good and evil. This is important because while we may often think life would be better if there were no downsides to it, we really don't have our concept and appreciation of good if bad did not exist! Without contrast and opposites, everything is in just a ho-hum state of blandness, or as Lehi described it, "all things must needs be a compound in one."

Still, trials are hard! I thought of a simple analogy and way we can look at trials a little more positively though. Imagine the tire of a vehicle that is completely smooth with no tread. Also imagine a completely smooth road, as smooth as the slickest, most slippery tile you've ever seen. When these two come together and any kind of significant torque is applied to the turning of that tire, it's pretty obvious what will happen - slippage and the vehicle getting nowhere while its tires spin and spin. But give that tire some tread and put it to a surface with some roughness to it and something completely different happens - friction between the two surfaces occurs, traction is gained and movement fo the vehicle occurs.

The collision of us and the trials of life can be looked at in a similar way. We are the vehicle and the tire and hopefully we've got some tread to us, looking to grab on to what we can in life and propel ourselves in the right direction. Trials are like the rough road and should be looked at as much as possible as an opportunity (even though we don't go around looking for trials, haha) that when present in our lives, can function as the other half of the spiritual physics equation that provides eternal traction, propelling us in the right direction.

Nothing new here, just another way of looking at the hardships of life in a way that hopefully helps!