How can I see these difficulties as a lesson and a test?

#DailyStoic If I were asked this question a couple years ago it wouldn’t have registered. At that time I felt like I was so far behind. As though all the recent years up had been a waste. All the rehab facilities, detox center's, legal battles, jail stays, probation stints, & so forth had been waste. It felt as though not only was I not progressing, if anything I was regressing. I’m starting to see that I wasn’t alone in this, that it’s actually commonplace for us to feel this way. People in general today are well-versed in instant gratification but we as have the capacity to become especially captivated by it. Constantly looking for a band aid, an instant fix, easy out. I remember my first rehab go back in 2013 in my naivety I thought I would just go, stay for a lil bit, & when I came out I’d be cured! Lol. It is foolish to believe anything happens overnight, good or bad. It ultimately takes a slew of little events to lead us to any given moment. All these little actions & choices I make stack up. One after another, after another; cause & effect. Trial & error. Nothing is a waste & everything has a purpose. The other day I was sitting on the porch by the lake with a friend, & next-door there were these college kids out front playing volleyball. Mike’s also faced his demons, not addiction per se, but in the mental health vicinity. So I asked him, do you ever wish you could of been like them? ‘Normal’. I won’t lie there was times, when at my worst, there was nothing I desired more. What’s wrong with me, why can’t I just be normal? But as they say this too shall pass & so it did. Sooner or later I believe we all reach this place in our Recovery where we stop being ashamed of our scars, hiding/concealing them. And start to look at them like badges of honor saying hey I won. A kind of clarity after the storm. So I would not change a single thing. I’m proud of what I’ve endured & overcome. It's humbled me, made me stronger, better in every way. It's made me, ME. And I like to think that's someone pretty damn great. “I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent — no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.” — SENECA, ON PROVIDENCE, 4.3