April showers bring May flowers. This is a phrase that is straight out of a Pinterest quote, and I’ve been hearing it since before I could remember.
The literal meaning: it rains in April so that flowers may bloom in May, but if taken a step further, this can really be applied to many aspects of life. You work out consistently and push yourself to experience future gains. You make good grades in high school so that you can receive scholarships and be better off in college. Good outcomes can take patience and the perseverance to continue through a storm.
Everyone experiences adversity, and those experiences dictate who you are and will become. The ability to make it through your personal struggles changes the way you will continue to live. Different for everyone, big and small, but all adversity contributes to one’s character development.
While in one’s “April,” figuratively speaking, the smallest tasks can be the hardest. All year you have been waiting to bloom, and it is so close yet so far. But what you don’t know is that your “May” is right around the corner, and all you have to do is get through 30 days and come out on the other side.
Things get better. April’s days aren’t infinite, and soon enough time will run out and the calendar will flip. Life will go on, and learning to adapt to your situation is all you can do.
This is easier said than done, just like everything else in life. For a long time it felt like my life was a never-ending “April.” Repeating itself in different parts of my life, but it always left me feeling like nothing was ever going to get better. I felt like everything I was doing to reach my goals was for nothing, and my motivation to keep going was nonexistent.
Although I didn’t know it, I was so close to the clear skies of success, I just had to hold on for a little longer. That last week in April is where the thunder continues to roll, and it feels like it was never going to end. When in reality, it is the home stretch.
The last stride is the hardest, and is where many people throw in the towel. It’s easy to keep motivated in the beginning, but around this time the excitement withers away, replaced with reality. It will not be as easy as you thought, and here is where you can turn back and accept your failure.
Holding onto the reason why you started and knowing that things will get better is the key. May will come eventually, and the flowers will be worth it. Because of the struggle I went through, everything I eventually accomplished was far more valuable. There was no shortcut, and all of the discomfort I went through paid off.
While we are literally in April, the world we live in is also in a figurative one. We are so close to getting out of this pandemic, yet it can feel so far. Although it may not be a month away, normalcy will return and all we can do is know that our figurative May will come. And it will be so worth it.
