“Life is hard. It’s harder when you’re stupid.”-John Wayne

I’m not certain why Wayne said that, or if he was talking to someone in particular. From what I understand, Wayne could be a little testy at times. Yet, he spoke the truth.

Life has ups and downs. Sometimes the ups are exhilarating. You feel like life could never get any better. And then it does!

The down periods are the ones we dread. We don’t welcome difficulties and we want to get through them as quickly as possible. But let’s look at this in a different way.

Resilience is built in the darkness. Those times, while difficult, are when we find our inner strength. We may not realize how strong we are until we need to find out.

Every experience, the good and the bad, prepares us for something else. We don’t have the luxury of knowing what that something else is. That’s for God alone to know.

Remember this when you’re going through dark times: God didn’t cause your pain. He allowed it. And He will use it to grow and develop you into the person you are meant to be.

These words might not ease your pain, but perhaps they give you a different, better perspective. Keep going…