Stay Strong and Never Give Up

One thing I have learned in the last couple years is that life will always have a curve ball in store for you when life seems to be going great.  I don't know how many times people felt the need to tell me how things go and that I was either wasting my time or that I would not be satisfied with the end result.  I was one of those people a while ago but I learned that the key to life is how you approach things.  People come and go in life.  Some you let go, so leave, and others you fight to keep. 

We all face trials and adversity on a daily basis.  We are in our own little world most of the time so our problems seem larger than anyone else's.  People always forget to slow it down and take a look at what they have instead of what they are chasing.  With everything I went through for the past two years I have learned to do exactly that.  I started over basically with nothing.  I had my car, my personal belongings and well, that was it.  I rented an apartment that had nothing in it so I sit here almost two years to the day later and look around where I live now.  I remember coming home from work and just not feeling like doing anything.  I was in some sort of depression which is understandable when you go from being with your kids every day to not being able to see them much.  No matter how bad it was I never questioned if I had made the right choice.  I kept trying to think of the big picture and when things seemed hopeless or bad I kept thinking that when this is all over that is when I'll be able to sit back and relax and know that I fought a hard fight and it was worth it.

It kills me as I've watched a couple of my friends go through the same fight that I did.  I tried to be there for them as much as I could because I know that the more support you have the less you question yourself and wonder if you are doing the best you can.  I am often reminded of a system that my daughter was using when learning how to read called chunking.  You have to take the same approach with any problem.  You have to break it down so that it doesn't overpower you.  You have to not let it eat at you and command your focus otherwise you close yourself off from life and what else is going on around you.  Many people will take the approach that what happens happens and if it is meant to be it will be.  I don't like that.  I like to think that we have control over our fate.  I'm not saying that those people who feel that way are wrong, I'm just saying that it isn't the way for me to go.  The more you go through the stronger you become, the smarter you get, and the more prepared you become to find what you want and take it and run with it when you find it.