December 29, 2025
If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
Regina Brett
There’s an old tale that goes like this: Imagine everyone throws their problems onto a wall for all to see. You get to walk by, inspect them, and then choose whichever ones you’d prefer to carry. In the end, almost everyone takes back their own.
I think about this a lot. I’ve been fortunate to know many people who have achieved worldly success, who have a beautiful family and kids, who have amassed immeasurable wealth, who have seemingly found enlightenment and the highest form of spiritual wisdom. And still — if given the choice of swapping struggles — I’d keep mine. Even during the hardest days. Especially during the hardest days.
Why? I think it comes down to this: our problems are perfectly designed for each of us. What we carry is not random or unfair or intractable. What we carry, is ours, and ours alone — invitations to grow our souls toward the light they are meant to reach. While it’s tempting to envy someone else’s life from the outside, what we don’t see is the cost of what they carry. We have no idea. So no, I wouldn’t trade. My struggles are my path, and I wouldn’t have them any other way.