Without Pain

Where would we be without pain?

Where would we be without the defining moments that are those difficult decisions and seemingly insurmountable issues?

What type of person is shaped from a mold that strictly follows the perfect blueprint to greatness – a mold that has never been tested for strength and ability to withstand pressure?

It seems as though the outcome, regardless of the composition or type of mold (i.e. regardless of the person), would be a pansy.

Maybe my perception is constricted by exposure deprivation, but I’ve never know pansies to have a reputation of resilience; they’re know for their instability and ‘softness’.

It’s the sissy of flowers.

Think back to an obstacle in your life’s progression.

How did that obstacle affect you?

How did you react to that change in pace?

Did you ignore the event, because that was the only way for you to cope with it?

Did you learn a valuable lesson about yourself or about life?

Did you apply the lesson-learned to a similar situation encountered at a later time?

Your answers to these questions reveal a great deal about you, and your outlook on life.

I believe a great differentiating factor amongst mankind is how people react to life’s obstacles.

You can’t judge a pedophile, murderer, thief, or Enron executive for how they’ve reacted to hard times in their lives.

Some people just haven’t learned the varying situations they may encounter, and the appropriate ways to address each of those situations.

Use what life hands you, because you never know who admires you, and who has chosen you as their person to emulate.

Of course, you shouldn’t live your life for others, but you should live as the example you’ve inevitably become.

In today’s society, youth need examples.

Be that example.

It’s selfish to neglect the role you hold in society as the example to those who are to follow, just to ‘be your own person.’

Life is about what and how much you’re willing to give – that includes how much of yourself.

Remember, you reap what you sow.

Be an exemplary model for those who need one, and in the days when your children will seek advice from their peers and not their parents, they’ll have the equivalent of the example you became for someone else.