A Number of Challenges at Home, Essay Example

In my past, I have struggled with a number of challenges at home that have been difficult to manage. For example, I experienced the loss of my grandfather at the age of fifteen, which was the first loss of a person that I was very close to in my life. Although my family is very religious and we are spiritual by nature, this experience was very difficult for me because my grandfather struggled with cancer for years and suffered as a result of the disease. Watching him suffer at this level made me question my own spirituality and why God would allow a human being to experience this trauma, only to lose out to the disease in the end. This was very frustrating to me and required me to take a step back and to reexamine my priorities because I was no longer certain that my faith was the rock in my life that I always believed would get me through the difficult periods.

This experience also taught me that there are significant challenges that are related to my own beliefs and that I must reconsider God’s work and how it operates in different ways. My grandfather was very important to me and made me realize that it is difficult to be strong for others when I am unable to be strong for myself. I struggled with this loss for a long period of time and I retreated from my friends and family to some degree, and my grades suffered as well. However, after a lengthy discussion with one of my siblings, I realized that my grandfather was in a better place and he was no longer suffering from cancer. This was an important step for me in realizing that I was able to rediscover my faith and to make better sense of the situation and how it impacted my grandfather. I also recognized that this was part of God’s larger plan for me and if nothing else, provided me with a learning curve that I am able to take into other parts of my life as I grow older. Therefore, in spite of the difficulties of this experience, I gained a renewed sense of hope and opportunity that I have carried with me in the years that have passed since the loss of my grandfather.