Every struggle in your life has shaped
you into the person you are today.
Be thankful for the hard times,
they can only make you stronger.
Keanu Reeves

Nobody ever said life would be easy. Everyone has their struggles and their challenges in this life. You may never know what all someone has gone through, but be assured, everyone you meet has had their share of hardships and challenges. And it is those challenges which shape people and help them develop and become stronger.

Bodybuilders shape and build their muscle mass by challenging their muscles to become stronger and to overcome their past limits. They are constantly pushing their muscles to lift heavier weights or to endure for a few more reps. It is through overcoming these challenges and pushing their limits that bodybuilders are able to develop more muscle mass than other people.

The same principle applies to life. It is through the process of overcoming the challenges of the hard times that we make ourselves stronger. Be thankful for the hard times, for difficult people, and for your enemies, as they all make you a stronger, better person, if you continue to fight the good fight.

Hard times can never defeat the man or woman who refuses to give up. Defeat doesn’t exist unless you give up and actually declare defeat. Failure is a virtually meaningless word. You don’t fail; you act and your actions produce a consequence, either good or bad. You decide how you will respond to every situation in your life. You can choose to use any and every situation to your advantage if you have the courage to do so.
The bottom line is that you would not be the person you are today if you had not had to deal with all the hard times you have been through and overcome. If you changed anything in your past, you would not be the person you are today.

Bohdi Sanders
author of
BUSHIDO: The Way of the Warrior