Battles

"The more bitter the battle, the sweeter the victory.”  Chances are that does not mean that much to you, but it came to me this morning and it means a heck of a lot to me.
Some things are easy and some things are hard.  I am glad for the easy things but find it easy to despise the hard things.  Yet when I think about it, digging for gold is hard, yet the reward far exceeds the easy thing of not digging for gold.
I may find something easy but as I am fond of saying I could have been born anyone.  I could have been born someone who finds what I find easy to be hard and vice versa.  As they say, it is a case of making the most of the hand I have been dealt.
I am what I am.  I am glad to be me.  I may face battles that many would not understand.  It would be like “get over it,” or “move on.”  Yet it may be something that has me stumped.  Many a time I may have tried and failed.  I may have thought it was all too hard.  Yet in the midst of what to me is darkness and a storm, there is a hope.  There is something that makes me know this is worth it.
Chances are there will be many battles in winning the war.  But winning the war is worth it when the war means winning freedom.  Many Australian soldiers fought battles to win the war, so that we continue to enjoy the freedoms we have.  I do the same on an individual level.  It may not resonate in the Australian consciousness, but it resonates in mine.
I may fight battles with the same enemy.  I have a win and withdraw and recuperate.  I know the war is not won, but I am on the way.  Then I suffer set-backs.  I would prefer not to, but for me constant victory only happens in fairy tales.
But the goal of freedom is worth a bloodied nose.  No one benefits when I give up.  It may result in a calm, but it is the calm before the storm.  I know I need help with both the easy things and the hard.  My experience is easy things can make me vulnerable.  The slide may be imperceptible, but too late I realize what I am looking at are prison bars. 
I don’t like battles.  I am a peace loving, mung bean type person.  But some fights are worth fighting.  Freedom is at stake.  The battle may be bitter, but the victory is sweet.