(Overcoming Obstacles, Adversities & Discouragement)
Rick Gettle © 2003
How
would you like to see a permanent end to all of your problems?
We
all have problems – and our problems only end - when we do. The only people
without problems are in the cemetery. I’d like to stick around – problems and
all. How about you?
No
matter what problems we have to face today, there is a solution, because we
have nothing to deal with but our own thoughts. As long as we think that our
destiny is in the hands of other people, the situation is hopeless. We need to
confront our problems with courage, boldness and action.
There’s
an old Chinese saying that goes, “If you live with a problem long enough, it
could eventually become a blessing.” Within every adversity in life, there is
always a seed of an equivalent or greater benefit. We have to look for it -
find it - and act on it.
We
learn courage - when we face danger. We learn patience - when we endure
suffering. We learn tenderness - when we taste pain. We learn to prize true
friends – when false ones forsake us. We treasure health - when illness
strikes. We learn to prize freedom - when we are in danger of losing it.
Without trouble we would be like plants that have sprouted, grown, and been
nurtured in the overprotected shelter of a hothouse -- too tender ever to live
in the open.
How
can we possibly become a strong person, if we have an easy life? The tougher it
is, the tougher we have a chance to become – if we choose to fight back. Tough
times never last – but tough people do.
When
you see a highly decorated military person all dressed up with rows of battle
ribbons and awards on their chest, you are looking at someone who courageously
faced and conquered danger, hardships, adversities, problems, life-threatening
situations, torture, injury, and heartbreak, watching their buddies die
terrible deaths. These people had fortitude - the ability to endure and last.
They wouldn’t quit, give up or run away. Yes there were times, I’m sure they
knew, when they bit off more than they could chew, but through it all when
there was doubt – they ate it up – and spit it out – the records show – they
took the blows – and did it their way.
We
don’t just get the sweet out of life without the bitter - we’d like to, but we
don’t. The sun doesn’t always shine; sometimes there are storms, tornadoes,
earthquakes, car accidents, fires and death. No one escapes the
problems of life. If it doesn’t happen sooner in life, it will happen later.
We
can overcome just about any problem, obstacle, or adversity that life deals us
– if we have a strong enough will. Where there is a will, there is a way.
Create a “bull-dog” determination and a “burning desire,” that will eventually
mow down all opposition.
Success
is not measured by what a person accomplishes, but by the opposition they have
encountered, and by the courage with which they have maintained the struggle
against overwhelming odds.
Don’t
pray for an easy life, without problems – pray to become a strong person. The
higher you go in life, the more problems you will have to deal with.
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