Facing Tough Times
It is a fact that everyone will face tough times throughout their lifetime. There are many lessons to learn during these tough times. If we fail to learn these lessons chances are you will face these challenges again and the second time will more than likely harder than the first. At birth no one is given a get out of tough times free card. We all face them. In my life I have been and hit with shrapnel from a grenade during wartime. I was looking at life in prison but due to lack of evidence I was given four years. My first true love died in my arms taking a bullet that was meant for me. I lost my mom a sister and my grandma. I was on felony probation for something I didn't do. I can go on but my point is that nobody is immune to hard times in their life. You will face hard times in your life. Many of our brothers and sisters are facing them right now as I am writing this. Maybe you are going through them yourself. Going through rough times can do one of two things. They can make you a better person or they can make you a bitter person. It is a matter of choice. You decide whether the rough times will make you better or bitter. Rough times will make you a warrior or a worrier. They are designed to make you a warrior but it is your choice. Will you take the time to go through these rough spots of your life to learn the lessons they have to offer or will you play the blame game or the woe is me game and become a bitter person? One of the strongest persons I have ever met was a man everyone called Ice Water. I met him in prison. He was doing a life sentence for saving the lives of his troops in Vietnam. He killed the enemy shooting in a no shooting area while his troops were pinned down. He deserved a medal of honor but instead got a life sentence. When I went to prison he had already served eleven years. This would make many people very bitter. Ice Water chose to use this experience to make him a better person. During those eleven years he memorized every word in the dictionary. He got his Masters degree in two different fields. He wrote two books. One on philosophy and the other on motivation. He was working on his Autobiography. He helped many inmates turn their lives around. I am one of them. At the time I was full of anger, hatred and rage. He helped me look at life differently and he is a big part of who I am today. I was blessed and fortunate to see him get out on parole the day before I got out. He had a job lined up as a psychological counselor. A man that went from the ghetto to Vietnam to prison. He could have chosen to become a bitter person but instead chose to rise above his tough times. He learned the lessons that these hard times had for him and became a better warrior. You may be facing situations in your life that may be making your very uncomfortable. Hard, rough, tough times. Will you allow them to make you a better person or will you choose to become a bitter person. Will you use these hard times as a stumbling block or will you use them as a stepping stone. The choice is yours.
Written by Bear Warrior 2006
![kiwani [e.lawson]](/public/user/80/8e/02/289f4_a7bb.jpg)
