Over coffee, I once listened to a friend of mine tell me how bad she felt for people going through hard times with finances, health, or relationships. My only thought was amazement that one person can view something as a curse, while others view the same thing as a blessing.

For many, wealth and beauty are great blessings, but to others they feel like huge burdens. Many people want to be famous, but the famous often wish that they could be "normal."

Or, look at celibacy: Some see it as a curse, but to others it is a blessing.

Whether viewed as curse or blessing, the truth of the matter is that all of those things are gifts given to us by God. God has chosen each of us for different missions, battles and burdens in order to draw people closer to him. Some may be given the burden of wealth, while others have the heavy load of poor health or the burden of being a parent of a suffering child just like the Virgin Mary.

With all of these challenges, the difficulty is recognizing the hand of God in whatever God has placed in front of us.

Most of us desire to make an impact on this world and to change lives for the better, but often the path to this goal set by God is not clear.

Just imagine, if we prayed: "God, I want to change the world for you. What do you want me to do?"

What if God replies to us: "My plan for you is to save the lives and the souls of three particular people while inspiring hundreds more. Are you up for it?"

Do you think that you would be? I feel that most of us would want to do anything to save the lives of those people and inspire hundreds more.

Now, imagine that after you say "yes," God responds: "Great! Now I will give you a health problem that causes you suffering, but if you keep focused on the mission then your faithful example will obtain the intended goal."

Would this help us have a better outlook on our situations? I think so.

Look at Mary. Through the curse of being an unwed pregnant woman, she brought about the blessing of a Savior. Is her pregnancy viewed as a curse now? Look at Jesus. Through the curse of his passion, he brought about the blessing of redemption. Are his sufferings viewed as a curse now?

For all of us who suffer and bear heavy burdens, know that God has given each of us our cross as a gift to help us draw people closer to God. We often fail to see the impact we have on others through our different situations and difficult struggles - but it can be huge.

If we see our blessings and curses as gifts from God for a greater mission to save lives, then maybe we will have a more positive view of sufferings and burdens that we endure. We may even learn to be grateful to God for choosing us.

Is it not awesome that out of everyone in the whole world, God chose you for a particular mission? That says a lot about the faith and trust God has in you. So let us pray that we all may faithfully bear our gifts and offer them up to the Lord.