Before we moved, we were blessed to live on a river with beautiful sunset views. The front yard view had mature pecan trees, 2 miniature horses, and 1 stubborn goat. There were lots of birds, including free-range chickens and roosters!

The road from the main highway to our home was a 6-mile curvy country road. Down this road, there were some beautiful sights. The majesty of mature trees, farm land, and the mighty river. A horse farm to gaze at pregnant mares and newborn colts. Oh, the sunsets! Breathtaking!

But it isn’t all beauty. Some ugly and downright disgusting places are on the way to that property.

Several lots on the road have piles upon piles of trash and clutter that make them look like a genuine garbage dump. You can’t even see the poorly kept, neglected homes. Ugh, they make me cringe. I was embarrassed when people came to visit me because I knew what they would see. I didn’t want to see those places, and I didn’t want others to see them.

One particular day, as I was driving on this road and reflecting on the great variety of homes, it occurred to me.

There is always some ugly on the way to where you are going.

At that moment, I realized this is a metaphor for life. The longer you live, the more likely you are to experience a lot of the ugly-

cancer,
disease,
financial hardship,
relationship problems, and
death,

to name a few. It’s part of the human experience. Like the road I traveled to get to my home, I have to go past the ugly to get to the beauty. What if I got to the less-than-desirable spots and stopped or turned around and went back? I would never experience the beauty at the end.

The ugly doesn’t diminish the beauty of my destination. It only makes it more beautiful.

The ugly can’t stop my trip unless I allow it. So I choose to keep driving past the ugly to get to the beauty. I choose to keep living this sometimes ugly life. Beauty comes but not if we stop in the ugly. Healing from disease, whether in this life or the next. Restored relationships. Strength that develops through adversity. All blessings that come when we don’t quit in the middle of the ugly.

Have you let the ugly stop you from continuing on your journey? What next step can you take to move past the ugly and one step closer to your destination?

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