Be Strong

Easier said than done isn't it?  I know how hard it can be.  Life is hard work.  I tell my grandsons often that life is not fare and don't expect it to be.   I often fall or take a step backwards, but in the end I always find the courage to go forward.  There is no alternative that is acceptable to me.  Surround yourself with positive people, have great faith and believe in yourself is what works for me.  Positive people will help you want to go forward.  God will give you more strength than you will ever know and if you continue to believe in yourself how can you fail?  And if you do, that is ok.  Pull yourself up and learn from it.  Abraham Lincoln failed over and over again most of his life. His life was filled with heart ache after heart ache. Look at the great world hero he became because he kept going forward and dealt with the present.  I find that in most of my heroes.

The hardest lesson for me and it took most of my adult life to really learn this lesson is that you must stay away from negative people.  You can not be strong when you are surrounded by them.  They suck needed energy from you, and life is tough enough without the good being sucked out of you. They do not want you to succeed.    If you have people in your life that say you can't, or shouldn't, or that put you down you need to seriously look at whether they should have a part in your life.  That does not mean that you do not have to respect and care about all people, it just means pick your battles carefully and wisely.  I found myself being strong for others and not for myself and it left very little for me when I needed to call upon it.  Hard, hard lesson to learn but I have learned it.  I'm very selfish about who I lend my strength to now.  It helps when it is appreciated and really needed.  Make sure you save some for yourself.

There are people that are so unhappy with their life that they hate everything and everybody.  You can't change them.  You can only change yourself.  Let these people be a very small part or have no part in your life if possible.  I'm sorry to say, there are an awful lot of them in the world so you can't avoid them entirely.   Stay away from all pessimists as much as you can.  It is the optimists that will bring strength and happiness to your life.   I hope you have a pool of optimists to call upon.  If not, start looking for more.

Be strong and God bless you.