Facing our reality, a monk tells

Facing our own reality, as it is present to us right now, can be an extraordinarily painful experience. Living in either the past or the future is not of the Holy Spirit. But we sometimes find ourselves nursing old wounds, angers, being scared by weaknesses. However, experience tells us if we look carefully, that living reality is superbly beautiful and freeing and loving, too. Fr Giussani points us to keep life real, to be faithful to life and to accept the grace of recognizing that Christ is in the center of life. Easier said than done most days. One's sin can be overwhelming and it has the ability to define our being if we are not careful. I found the following paragraph of Abbot Alban's to be helpful and real; he names the virtues we need to live as God wants us to live. Perhaps you'll take some solace from Abbot Alban's brief note, too,

Time and again, during our life, we shall meet with hardships which are the inevitable accompaniment of any attempt to lead a supernatural life on this earth. These will arise not only from the temptations which ... are the consequence of our own weakness and fault but also from all those trials and problems that arise from circumstances and people beyond our own control, things which will demand from us much humility, fortitude, generosity, forgiveness, patience with the "personality problems" [of others], patience with ourselves.... Only the spirit of compunction of heart will enable us to accept them ... [and] to transform them from bitter frustrations into a patient and even joyful sharing of the sufferings of Christ.

Alban Boultwood, Alive to God: Meditations for Everyone (Baltimore: Helicon, 1964), 64.