“
You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft, that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.
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”
David Goggins (Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds)
“
Take a chance and risk it all or play it safe and suffer defeat.
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”
Pittacus Lore (I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies, #1))
“
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
”
”
John F. Kennedy
“
Though all three men faced the same hardship, their differing perceptions of it appeared to be shaping their fates. Louie and Phil's hope displaced their fear and inspired them to work toward their survival, and each success renewed their physical and emotional vigor. Mac's resignation seemed to paralyze him and the less he participated in their efforts to survive, the more he slipped. Though he did the least, as the days passed, it was he who faded the most. Louie and Phil's optimism, and Mac's hopelessness, were becoming self-fulfilling.
”
”
Laura Hillenbrand (Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption)
“
Just because a person successfully steers a voyage through hell doesn't mean he ever wants to sail that route again.
”
”
Richelle E. Goodrich (Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, and Grumblings for Every Day of the Year)
“
We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty
”
”
John F. Kennedy
“
Every great man, every successful man, no matter what the field of endeavor, has known the magic that lies in these words: every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.
”
”
W. Clement Stone
“
To be successful, one has to be one of three bees - the queen bee, the hardest working bee, or the bee that does not fit in. One success is inherited, and the the next one is earned. While the last one is self-sought, self-served, and happens on its own terms.
”
”
Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
“
Falling into the trap of self-pity will get you no where in life. It's sorrowful endless cycle will keep you from reaching your goals. Everyone has a sad story but not everyone allows it to restrain them. Let life's hardships fuel you to success instead of holding you back. Start controlling your life or it will control you!
”
”
Timothy Pina (Hearts for Haiti: Book of Poetry & Inspiration)
“
Resilience is built from real hardship and cannot be bought or manufactured.
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”
Julie Lythcott-Haims (How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success)
“
Your true love for God is demonstrated through your ability to hold onto your faithfulness in the midst of Prosperity and Poverty, Happiness and Hardships, Sickness and Success; in whatever is Appealing or Appalling!
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Israelmore Ayivor (The Great Hand Book of Quotes)
“
I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.
”
”
Theodore Roosevelt (The Strenuous Life, Essays and Addresses)
“
To some extent we all need losses and difficulties and challenges, because without them the thrill of success weakens gradually with each new victory. That’s why people spend precious chunks of free time doing difficult crosswords and climbing dangerous mountains—because the hardship of the challenge is far more compelling than knowing you’re going to succeed.
”
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Adam Alter (Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked)
“
Dreams and freedom are the same. In order for them to be, they come with a price.
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Criss Jami (Killosophy)
“
Maybe someday, if I succeed at something, I'll stop saying, "It isn't fair" about everything else.
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Lois Lowry (A Summer to Die)
“
When you are stressed and challenged by hardships just smile through it as frowning won’t help in changing the situation
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”
Abhysheq Shukla (The Reflection "Success or Stress"Choose Wisely)
“
I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of effort, labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not the the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.
”
”
Theodore Roosevelt
“
I wasn’t always broken; we are all born pure. It is our journey that burdens us and leads us astray. Our mistakes that beat us down and cover us in guilt and shame, burying us a little more with each successive hardship. It is up to us to dig ourselves out, to come to terms with our faults, to embrace not only our imperfections but those of the ones we love, and to once again find the path we strayed from.
”
”
Madeline Sheehan (Unbeloved (Undeniable, #4))
“
Because the Turkish nation has been successful in overcoming hardships through national unity and togetherness. And because the torch the Turkish nation holds in her hand and in her mind, while marching on the road of progress and civilization, is positive science.
”
”
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
“
Like those in the valley behind us, most people stand in sight of the spiritual mountains all their lives and never enter them, being content to listen to others who have been there and thus avoid the hardships. Some travel into the mountains accompanied by experienced guides who know the best and least dangerous routes by which they arrive at their destination. Still others, inexperienced and untrusting, attempt to make their own routes. Few of these are successful, but occasionally some, by sheer will and luck and grace, do make it. Once there they become more aware than any of the others that there's no single or fixed number of routes. There are as many routes as there are individual souls.
”
”
Robert M. Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Phaedrus, #1))
“
Katz had read extensively in popular sociobiology, and his understanding of the depressive personality type and its seemingly perverse persistence in the human gene pool was that depression was successful adaptation to ceaseless pain and hardship. Pessimism, feelings of worthlessness and lack of entitlement, inability to derive satisfaction from pleasure, a tormenting awareness of the world's general crappiness: for Katz Jewish paternal forebears, who'd been driven from shtetl to shtetl by implacable anti-Semites, as for the old Angles and Saxons on his mother's side, who'd labored to grow rye and barley in the poor soils and short summers of northern Europe, feeling bad all the time and expecting the worse had been natural ways of equilibriating themselves with the lousiness of their circumstances. Few things gratified depressives, after all, more than really bad news. This obviously wasn't an optimal way to live, but it had its evolutionary advantages.
”
”
Jonathan Franzen (Freedom)
“
Those who were raised in poverty and have been successful to overcome the shame of it, understands the hardship of those who are left behind.
”
”
Ellen J. Barrier
“
Sometimes, situation may be uncomfortable but must endure.
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Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
“
People who are driven by love will overcome hardships and hurdles in ways that people who are only driven by profit never can.
”
”
Simon S. Tam
“
We all make mistakes. It is important to learn from them and just as important to know when to move on.
”
”
Gina Varamo
“
The hardest year of my life taught me perseverance in the face of difficulty is crucial for success. I believe the human soul desires hardship. Deterrents are put in your life to test your resilience, to bring you closer to your life’s purpose. If you don’t know failure, how could you ever relish in glory?
”
”
Kristin Michelle Elizabeth
“
we are all born pure. It is our journey that burdens us and leads us astray. Our mistakes that beat us down and cover us in guilt and shame, burying us a little more with each successive hardship. It is up to us to dig ourselves out, to come to terms with our faults, to embrace not only our imperfections but those of the ones we love, and to once again find the path we strayed from.
”
”
Madeline Sheehan (Unbeloved (Undeniable, #4))
“
Known to successive generations of students as ‘Professor McGonagall,’ Minerva – always something of a feminist – announced that she would be keeping her own name upon marriage. Traditionalists sniffed – why was Minerva refusing to accept a pure-blood name, and keeping that of her Muggle father? The
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J.K. Rowling (Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (Pottermore Presents, #1))
“
We all have our own road to walk. Whether rocky, curving, straight or smooth, what good is a lonely road? It’s when we run and intersect with other roads that defines our road. When road meets road do we get direction, and choices to cross into another life.
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Anthony Liccione
“
Do not judge my success by the destination I reached but the distance I traveled.
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Majid Kazmi (The First Dancer: How to be the first among equals and attract unlimited opportunities)
“
The results of learning from difficulties and obstacles are endurance and perseverance. Hardship, when combined with self-control, fosters strong soft skills.
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Norbertus Krisnu Prabowo
“
It shouldn't take a life-changing event for you to change your life.
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Shaun Hick
“
Good art can come out of thieves, bootleggers, or horse swipes. People really are afraid to find out just how much hardship and poverty they can stand. They are afraid to find out how tough they are. Nothing can destroy the good writer. The only thing that can alter the good writer is death. Good ones don't have time to bother with success or getting rich. Success is feminine and like a woman; if you cringe before her, she will override you. So the way to treat her is to show her the back of your hand. Then maybe she will do the crawling.
”
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William Faulkner
“
A hardship mentality can make us narrow and defensive. A success and prosperity mentality can make us selfish. An attitude of thankfulness to God, for what He gives us, can make us truly generous.
”
”
Charles R. Ringma (Seize the Day -- with Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A 365 Day Devotional (Designed for Influence))
“
Though all three men faced the same hardship, their differing perceptions of it appeared to be shaping their fates. Louie and Phil’s hope displaced their fear and inspired them to work toward their survival, and each success renewed their physical and emotional vigor. Mac’s resignation seemed to paralyze him, and the less he participated in their efforts to survive, the more he slipped. Though he did the least, as the days passed, it was he who
”
”
Laura Hillenbrand (Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption)
“
Truth always teaches you more than ignorance.
Understanding always teaches you more than curiosity.
Sight always teaches you more than blindness.
Certainty always teaches you more than falsehood.
Silence always teaches you more than noise.
Stillness always teaches you more than motion.
Growth always teaches you more than stagnation.
Nature always teaches you more than appearance.
Enemies always teach you more than friends.
Composure always teaches you more than wrath.
Humility always teaches you more than arrogance.
Poverty always teaches you more than riches.
Sorrow always teaches you more than happiness.
Hardship always teaches you more than success.
Contentment always teaches you more than greed.
Pain always teaches you more than pleasure.
Misery always teaches you more than comfort.
Love always teaches you more than passion.
Action always teaches you more than apathy.
God always teaches you more than reality.
Life always teaches you more than death.
Light always teaches you more than darkness.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” Vietnam became the case in point. In a letter to Diem in 1961, Kennedy wrote, “We are
”
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Mark Bowden (Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam)
“
There is scarcely a quality which so much dignifies human nature as consistency of conduct -- and no weakness more deplorable than that of instability.
Examine, choose, compare, reject, but having once made your selection of profession, stand by your decision.
Difficulties, and privations, and hardships, must be encountered; but determination will overcome them all.
And not only sloth and folly, but even genius will be outdone by perseverance.
It often is the case that he who can endure the most is in the end the most successful.
”
”
Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine)
“
Breakdowns create breakthroughs.
”
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Richie Norton
“
Don't get discouraged by present hardships,
They are the reason to your success in future.
"Easy Victory is less valued than a hard one".
”
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Jiten Bhatt
“
Every seed must rise through dirt to enjoy the sunshine.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
I admire successful men and women who endured and overcome unusual circumstances to fulfill their dreams.
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”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
“
Be flexible like trees; when the wind blows bend, but do not break.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
It takes an enormous amount of self-confidence to tell others about your struggles while you are still struggling.
”
”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“
Success is something that comes to you after you pull off many seemingly impossible tasks.
”
”
Johannes Larsson
“
It is our journey that burdens us and leads us astray. Our mistakes that beat us down and cover us in guilt and shame, burying us a little more with each successive hardship. It is up to us to dig ourselves out, to come to terms with our faults, to embrace not only our imperfections but those of the ones we love, and to once again find the path we strayed from.
”
”
Madeline Sheehan (Unbeloved (Undeniable, #4))
“
If everything is smooth sailing right from the beginning, we cannot become people of substance and character. By surmounting paining setbacks and obstacles, we can create a brilliant history of triumph that will shine forever. That is what makes life so exciting and enjoyable. In any field of endeavour, those who overcome hardships and grow as human beings are advancing towards success and victory in life.” – Daisaku Ikeda
”
”
Tom Corson-Knowles (20 Life-Changing Books Box Set: 20 Bestselling Authors Share Their Secrets to Health, Wealth and Success)
“
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” – John F. Kennedy
”
”
John F. Bronzo (Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon)
“
You are not what you have done, but what you have overcome. All the hardships, the mistakes, the rejections, the pain and all the times you questioned why have given birth to the wisdom and strength that will help you shine your light on the world, even in the darkest of hour. Failures and struggles keep you humble. Success and achievement keep you glowing, but only faith and determination keep you going. Stay focused and celebrate your efforts too, not just the outcomes.
”
”
John Geiger
“
Optimists Optimism is normal, but some fortunate people are more optimistic than the rest of us. If you are genetically endowed with an optimistic bias, you hardly need to be told that you are a lucky person—you already feel fortunate. An optimistic attitude is largely inherited, and it is part of a general disposition for well-being, which may also include a preference for seeing the bright side of everything. If you were allowed one wish for your child, seriously consider wishing him or her optimism. Optimists are normally cheerful and happy, and therefore popular; they are resilient in adapting to failures and hardships, their chances of clinical depression are reduced, their immune system is stronger, they take better care of their health, they feel healthier than others and are in fact likely to live longer. A study of people who exaggerate their expected life span beyond actuarial predictions showed that they work longer hours, are more optimistic about their future income, are more likely to remarry after divorce (the classic “triumph of hope over experience”), and are more prone to bet on individual stocks. Of course, the blessings of optimism are offered only to individuals who are only mildly biased and who are able to “accentuate the positive” without losing track of reality. Optimistic individuals play a disproportionate role in shaping our lives. Their decisions make a difference; they are the inventors, the entrepreneurs, the political and military leaders—not average people. They got to where they are by seeking challenges and taking risks. They are talented and they have been lucky, almost certainly luckier than they acknowledge. They are probably optimistic by temperament; a survey of founders of small businesses concluded that entrepreneurs are more sanguine than midlevel managers about life in general. Their experiences of success have confirmed their faith in their judgment and in their ability to control events. Their self-confidence is reinforced by the admiration of others. This reasoning leads to a hypothesis: the people who have the greatest influence on the lives of others are likely to be optimistic and overconfident, and to take more risks than they realize.
”
”
Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow)
“
People who’ve had lots of failures talk about those failures as if to imply that if they have another life, they’ll be a big success. After facing all that hardship, they think they won’t mess up again. But they’re all – me included, of course – making a fundamental mistake. Failures know a lot about failure, sure. But knowing failure is completely different from knowing success. Fixing your mistakes doesn’t mean success takes their place – you’ve just got a point to start at, is all. That’s something failures don’t understand.
”
”
Sugaru Miaki (Ich habe mein Leben für 10.000 Yen pro Jahr verkauft #1)
“
She endures in times of hardship. She takes pain and fuels it to her creative advantage. She knows in order to achieve her greatest expression she must embrace her demons. That is the only true way to grow as a human being. She would rather struggle than be stagnant.
”
”
Kristin Michelle Elizabeth
“
Here, dear reader, you must summon patient compassion. Try to imagine the hardships of a military officer triply burdened by close relationships with political leaders and the national news media, an Ivy League PhD, and wartime triumphs leading an elite airborne division. Our hero somehow survived in spite of it all. He rose against his handicaps, triumphing over the awful mark of Princeton University, that great gathering place for outcasts, rebels, and the socially obscure. He secured higher military rank even though he had been successful in combat. He adroitly worked CBS News, the Washington Post, and the United States Senate, yet still rose to prominence.
”
”
Chris Bray
“
Mountains like these and travelers in the mountains and events that happen to them here are found not only in Zen literature but in the tales of every major religion. This allegory of a physical mountain for the spiritual one that stands between each soul and its goal is an easy and natural one to make. Like those in the valley behind us, most people stand in sight of the spiritual mountains all their lives and never enter them, being content to listen to others who have been there and thus avoid the hardships. Some travel into the mountains accompanied by experienced guides who know the best and least dangerous routes by which they arrive at their destination. Still others, inexperienced and untrusting, attempt to make their own routes. Few of these are successful, but occasionally some, by sheer will and luck and grace, do make it. Once there they become more aware than any of the others that there's no single or fixed number of routes. There are as many routes as there are individual souls.
”
”
Robert M. Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Phaedrus, #1))
“
Lack of harmony and cooperation between the railroad management and the workers has made it necessary for the railroads to increase their freight and passenger rates, and this, in turn, has increased the cost of life's necessities to almost unbearable proportions. Here, again, lack of cooperation between a few leads to hardship for millions of people.
”
”
Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich / The Law of Success)
“
An inexhaustible capacity to engage in sin is what makes human beings capable of living a virtuous life. To err is human; to seek penance is humankind’s unique act of salvation. Whenever a person fails, it is often their overwhelming sense of anguish that drives them forward to make a second attempt that is far more bighearted than they originally envisioned. The need for redemption drives us to try again despite our backside enduring the terrible weight of our greatest catastrophes. There is no person as magnanimous as a person whom finally encountered tremendous success after previously enduring a tear-filled trail of hardships and repeated setbacks. In an effort to redeem our lost dignity, in an effort to regain self-respect, we find our true selves. By working independently to better ourselves and struggling to fulfill our cherished values, we save ourselves while coincidentally uplifting all of humanity.
”
”
Kilroy J. Oldster (Dead Toad Scrolls)
“
Though all three men faced the same hardship, their differing perceptions of it appeared to be shaping their fates. Louie and Phil’s hope displaced their fear and inspired them to work toward their survival, and each success renewed their physical and emotional vigor. Mac’s resignation seemed to paralyze him, and the less he participated in their efforts to survive, the more he slipped. Though he did the least, as the days passed, it was he who faded the most. Louie and Phil’s optimism, and Mac’s hopelessness, were becoming self-fulfilling.
”
”
Laura Hillenbrand (Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption)
“
The narrow path of the righteous is an extremely difficult path to travel. The rough road to victory is a very challenging endeavor that pushes the limits of endurance. Enormous mountains of hardship, boisterous storms of adversity, and several other elements of confrontation are there in their various forms of operation to test our faith. So it’s very important for us to apply the word of our God to our lives, and believe it with unwavering faith. Then no form of adversity can keep us back from a successful advancement into a deeper progression where greater achievements are obtained.
”
”
Calvin W. Allison (Standing at the Top of the Hill)
“
No Love Without Tears (The Sonnet)
There is no love without tears.
There is no diversity without difference.
There is no revolution without smears.
There's no justice without inconvenience.
There is no development without flaws.
There is no dignity without disrespect.
There is no learning without falling.
There is no heart without heartbreak.
There is no path without the thorns.
There is no pedestrian without weariness.
There is no dream without the hardship.
There's no determination without doubtfulness.
Only those who have felt excruciating pain,
Can help others without expecting any gain.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Mücadele Muhabbet: Gospel of An Unarmed Soldier)
“
depression was a successful adaptation to ceaseless pain and hardship [...] feeling bad all the time and expecting the worst had been natural ways of equilibrating themselves with the lousiness of their circumstances. Few things gratified depressives, after all, more than really bad news [...] Grim situations were Katz's niche the way murky water was a carp's [...] he might well have started making music again, had it not been for the accident of success. He flopped around on the ground, heavily carplike, his psychic gills straining futilely to extract dark sustenance from an atmosphere of approval and plenitude.
”
”
Jonathan Franzen (Freedom)
“
In the second story, which reminds me to look inward for solutions to what may be troubling me, the ninth-century sage Rabia was looking for a lost key under a streetlight. Her neighbors turned out to help, but without success. Finally, they asked where she might have dropped the key, so that they could better focus their search. “Actually,” said Rabia, “I lost it in my house.” Bemused, they asked her why she didn’t look for it there. “Because,” she said, “there’s no light in my house, but out here the light is bright!” The neighbors laughed, and Rabia seized the moment to make her point. “Friends,” she said, “you are intelligent people and that is why you laugh. But tell me: When you lose your joy or peace of mind because of some disappointment or hardship, did you lose it out there [gesturing around her] or in here [gesturing to her heart]?” We tend to lay blame on our external circumstances and seek superficial solutions, but the truth is that we lost our peace and joy inside ourselves. We avoid looking inside us, where the light is dim. When we make it a lifelong practice to shine the light of compassionate awareness on ourself, our shadow gently begins to diminish, and we come closer to discovering our radiant, divine Self.
”
”
Jamal Rahman (Spiritual Gems of Islam: Insights & Practices from the Qur’an, Hadith, Rumi & Muslim Teaching Stories to Enlighten the Heart & Mind)
“
I have talked with many pastors whose real struggle isn’t first with the hardship of ministry, the lack of appreciation and involvement of people, or difficulties with fellow leaders. No, the real struggle they are having, one that is very hard for a pastor to admit, is with God. What is caused to ministry become hard and burdensome is disappointment and anger at God.
We have forgotten that pastoral ministry is war and that you will never live successfully in the pastorate if you live with the peacetime mentality. Permit me to explain. The fundamental battle of pastoral ministry is not with the shifting values of the surrounding culture. It is not the struggle with resistant people who don't seem to esteem the Gospel. It is not the fight for the success of ministries of the church. And is not the constant struggle of resources and personnel to accomplish the mission. No, the war of the pastor is a deeply personal war. It is far on the ground of the pastor’s heart. It is a war values, allegiances, and motivations. It's about the subtle desires and foundational dreams. This war is the greatest threat to every pastor. Yet it is a war that we often naïvely ignore or quickly forget in the busyness of local church ministry.
When you forget the Gospel, you begin to seek from the situations, locations and relationships of ministry what you already have been given in Christ. You begin to look to ministry for identity, security, hope, well-being, meeting, and purpose. These things are already yours in Christ.
In ways of which you are not always aware, your ministry is always shaped by what is in functional control of your heart.
The fact of the matter is that many pastors become awe numb or awe confused, or they get awe kidnapped. Many pastors look at glory and don't seek glory anymore. Many pastors are just cranking out because they don't know what else to do. Many pastors preach a boring, uninspiring gospel that makes you wonder why people aren't sleeping their way through it. Many pastors are better at arguing fine points of doctrine than stimulating divine wonder. Many pastors see more stimulated by the next ministry, vision of the next step in strategic planning than by the stunning glory of the grand intervention of grace into sin broken hearts. The glories of being right, successful, in control, esteemed, and secure often become more influential in the way that ministry is done than the awesome realities of the presence, sovereignty, power, and love of God.
Mediocrity is not a time, personnel, resource, or location problem. Mediocrity is a heart problem. We have lost our commitment to the highest levels of excellence because we have lost our awe.
”
”
Paul David Tripp (Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry)
“
Here are the four keys to successful commitments: 1. Strong desire: In order to fully commit to something, you need a clear and personally compelling reason. Without a strong desire you will struggle when the implementation gets difficult, but with a compelling desire, seemingly insurmountable obstacles are seen as challenges to be met. The desired end result needs to be meaningful enough to get you through the hard times and keep you on track. 2. Keystone actions: Once you have an intense desire to accomplish something, you then need to identify the core actions that will produce the result you’re after. In today’s world, many of us have become spectators rather than participants. We must remember that it’s what we do that counts. In most endeavors there are often many activities that help you accomplish your goal. However there are usually a few core activities that account for the majority of the results, and in some cases there are only one or two keystone actions that ultimately produce the result. It is critical that you identify these keystones and focus on them. 3. Count the costs: Commitments require sacrifice. In any effort there are benefits and costs. Too often we claim to commit to something without considering the costs, the hardships that will have to be overcome to accomplish your desire. Costs can include time, money, risk, uncertainty, loss of comfort, and so on. Identifying the costs before you commit allows you to consciously choose whether you are willing to pay the price of your commitment. When you face any of these costs, it is extremely helpful to recognize that you anticipated them and decided that reaching your goal was worth it. 4. Act on commitments, not feelings: There will be times when you won’t feel like doing the critical activities. We’ve all been there. Getting out of bed at 5:30 a.m. to jog in the winter cold can be daunting, especially when you’re in a toasty warm bed. It is during these times that you will need to learn to act on your commitments instead of your feelings. If you don’t, you will never build any momentum and will get stuck continually restarting or, as is so often the case, giving up. Learning to do the things you need to do, regardless of how you feel, is a core discipline for success.
”
”
Brian P. Moran (The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months)
“
In 1932, the combination of these intractable forces would result in widespread hardship for the agricultural provinces of old Russia, and death by starvation for millions of peasants in Ukraine.* [*While many of the young loyalists (like Nina) who joined the udarniks in the countryside would have their faith in the Party tested by what they witnessed, most of Russia, and for that matter the world, would be spared the spectacle of this man-made disaster. For just as peasants from the countryside were forbidden to enter the cities, journalists from the cities were forbidden to enter the countryside; delivery of personal mail was suspended; and the windows of passenger trains were blackened. In fact, so successful was the campaign to contain awareness of the crisis, when word leaked out that millions were starving in Ukraine, Walter Duranty, the lead correspondent for The New York Times in Russia (and one of the ringleaders in the Shalyapin Bar), would report that these rumors of famine were grossly exaggerated and had probably originated with anti-Soviet propagandists. Thus, the world would shrug. And even as the crime unfolded, Duranty would win the Pulitzer Prize.]
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”
Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow)
“
45. No Plan Survives First Contact With The Enemy
No matter how well you have prepared for something in advance - whether it’s an expedition, an exam, a marriage or a race - when you find yourself in the thick of the action, however good your plan, things happen.
Adventure is unpredictable, and you had better learn to be flexible and to swing with the punches, or you will get beaten - it’s as simple as that.
Mike Tyson famously once said: ‘Everyone has a plan…until they get punched in the face!’
If the adventure is an exciting one, you can bet your bottom dollar you will get hit by the occasional punch in the face. So prepare for the unexpected, and remember that forewarned is forearmed.
Knowing that things will and do go wrong in the heat of battle is actually half the battle. It means that when it happens you are ready for it - you can react fast, stay nimble and you can survive the barrage.
We used to say in the military that when things took a turn for the worse you have to ‘improvise, adapt and overcome.’ IAO. It is a good one to remember. It gives us a road map to deal with the unexpected.
Being caught out, being caught off guard often makes people freeze - it is a human reaction to shock. But freezing can cost you the edge. So learn to anticipate the unexpected, and when it happens, smile to yourself and treat it as a solid marker that you are doing something right on your road to success.
If nothing ever goes wrong then you haven’t been ambitious enough!
I also like to say that the real adventure begins in earnest when things go a little bit wrong. It is only then that you get to pit yourself against the worst the wild has to throw at you. When all is going to plan, with all the kit working perfectly and the weather benign, then it isn’t really a test of character. It is easy to be the hero when all is going your way.
But when it all goes wrong and life feels like a battle, it is then that we can see what sort of people we have around us. It is only through the hardships that our character becomes forged. Without struggle there can be no growth - physically or emotionally.
So embrace the unexpected, feed off it, train yourself to be a master of the curve ball, and you will have built yourself another solid ‘character’ rung on the ladder to success.
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Bear Grylls (A Survival Guide for Life: How to Achieve Your Goals, Thrive in Adversity, and Grow in Character)
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God has not given us the spirit of fear. He has given us the spirit of Love and a competent mind.
Love conquers fear, because Love has Power, that creates a competent mind, that allows a person to make rational decisions and use righteous judgment to resolve or solve problems.
Through this God-given process, we are able to endure and persevere in times of hardships, and when facing a crisis. When our spirit is broken by hate, and heavy loads are placed upon us, we turn to God for strength in our storms of life. And we seek his Love to restore us to wholeness. He restores us with Hope. From within him we receive Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance as it is noted in Galatians 5:22.
Because of God's Love for us, we are able to have the patience to wait for his Power to restore us so that we are in control of our mind to over-power fear and to lead a successful life to meet our goals and create a greater opportunity filled with his blessings.
He has created us to be a victorious people. Therefore, we are able to create far greater opportunities through Love.
God gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength. (Isaiah 40:29)
When we are broken by the storms of life, God's Love restore us. We bow before him, in a humble spirit at his throne of grace, and ask in prayer for mercy and renewed strength. It is here that we find the needed strength to forgive those who have wronged us and the Power to Love.
Those who wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
Fear is powerless. It torments the mind and paralyzes the thought process. It causes panic. Thereby, leaving the person, feeling a sense of hopelessness and unwilling to trust others. It closes possibilities to allow for change.
The prophet Isaiah noted; Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. (Isaiah 40:30)
And when Jesus disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a spirit," and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I, be not afraid. (Matthew 14:26, 27)
Fear is a person's worst enemy; it causes panic, that results in making irrational decisions. Such behavior is based on poor judgment, that was made due to a lack of patience, to make an adequate investigation of the situation before proceeding. The outcome will create serious problems that can cause serious harm.
LOVE is the chain that binds us together.
Do not allow hate to separate us.
There is One God
One family
One faith
One world
We are not defined by belief or by faith nor religion.
We are the family of God.
Written by: Ellen J. Barrier
Source of Scriptures: King James Version Bible
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Ellen J. Barrier
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I cannot tell what the future will bring to a man. Life must be lived in hoping and anticipating, unaware of what expects us. If a man is made conscious of the fact that suffering has no end, that happy days we dream of will never come, how can he bear burdens? A man must be able to dream that his fancies and fantasies will be materialized some day. Without hopeful expectations you can not endure hardships that flesh is heir to. On the other hand, a success that comes unexpectedly from above out of the blue would have no value. If one is convinced that joys and happiness he is experiencing now will continue for ever, how can he appreciate them unless it occurs to him that he may lose it any moment? A life whose end is known beforehand will be but a tale. One of your tales, you are a man with a tale and like every tale the end will be happy.
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T. Afsin Ilgar (Locked Lives)
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I love the idea of westerns. It’s a simple dynamic: a man or woman overcoming hardship to carve out a meaningful life in a savage land, while maintaining their integrity.
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Darrell Pitt (Secrets of Successful Writers)
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Sacrifice has great value in that it not only achieves personal success but builds successful communities, nations and humanity. Each moment spent in selfless sacrifice makes you a stronger person, and such strength fosters the required determination to cope with adversity and hardship for the sake of others.
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Vishwas Chavan (VishwaSutras: Universal Principles For Living: Inspired by Real-Life Experiences)
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Habits: People like to imagine that they will "rise to the occasion." They taught us in the Teams that people rarely do. What happens, in fact is that when things get really hard and people are really afraid, they sink to the level of their training. You train your habits. And if a critical moment does come, all can be is ready for it...By relying on habits, we free our minds to focus on what matter most...We should be, in part, beginners for our entire lives. Beginning anew refreshes the habit of learning...if every few years we dedicate a part of ourselves toa new endeavor, we find that we are mined of how we grow, we are reminded that we can grow, and we are reminded of how we profit from growth. Or, we decay...To learn resilience, children must be exposed to hardship. If they haven't built a habit of resilience and earned some self-respect by then, the adult pain they meet probably won't strengthen them. It will likely overwhelm them...There's one sure way to build self-respect: through achievement. A child who learns to tie her own shoe grows in confidence...Self-respect isn't something a teacher or a coach or a government can hand you. Self-respect grows through self-centered success: not because we been told we're good, but when we know we're good...In trying to protect too much, kind people can inflict great cruelty...Resilience - the willingness and ability to endure hardship and become better by it - is a habit that sinks its roots in the soil of security. The child who is always protected from harm will never be resilient. At the same time, the child who is never loved will rarely be resilient...you don't have to serve your habits. Your habits can serve you. They can strengthen and reinforce the kind of person you want to become. You have power over your habits. That also means you're responsible for your habits.
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Eric Greitens (Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life)
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One with great successes has had equally great hardships.
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Cometan (The Omnidoxy)
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I was a preacher, and now I am thirsting for vengeance,” answered Christy, his face clouding darkly. “Wait until you learn what frontier life means. You are young here yet; you are flushed with the success of your teaching; you have lived a short time in this quiet village, where, until the last few days, all has been serene. You know nothing of the strife, of the necessity of fighting, of the cruelty which makes up this border existence. Only two years have hardened me so that I actually pant for the blood of the renegade who has robbed me. A frontiersman must take his choice of succumbing or cutting his way through flesh and bone. Blood will be spilled; if not yours, then your foe’s. The pioneers run from the plow to the fight; they halt in the cutting of corn to defend themselves, and in winter must battle against cold and hardship, which would be less cruel if there was time in summer to prepare for winter, for the savages leave them hardly an opportunity to plant crops. How many pioneers have given up, and gone back east? Find me any who would not return home to-morrow, if they could. All that brings them out here is the chance for a home, and all that keeps them out here is the poor hope of finally attaining their object. Always there is a possibility of future prosperity. But this generation, if it survives, will never see prosperity and happiness. What does this border life engender in a pioneer who holds his own in it? Of all things, not Christianity. He becomes a fighter, keen as the redskin who steals through the coverts.
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Zane Grey (The Spirit of the Border)
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Siri ya mafanikio ni shida!
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Enock Maregesi
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12. Difficulties are no Match for the Optimist. How can we suppose that we, the children of Buddha, are put at the mercy of petty troubles, or intended to be crushed by obstacles? Are we not endowed with inner force to fight successfully against obstacles and difficulties, and to wrest trophies of glory from hardships? Are we to be slaves to the vicissitudes of fortune? Are we doomed to be victims for the jaws of the environment? It is not external obstacles themselves, but our inner fear and doubt that prove to be the stumbling-blocks in the path to success; not material loss, but timidity and hesitation that ruin us for ever. Difficulties
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Kaiten Nukariya (The Religion of the Samurai A Study of Zen Philosophy and Discipline in China and Japan)
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Resilience is the key to a well-lived life. If you want to be happy, you need resilience. If you want to be successful, you need resilience. You need resilience because you can’t have happiness, success, or anything else worth having without meeting hardship along the way. To master a skill, to build an enterprise, to pursue any worthy endeavor—simply to live a good life—requires that we confront pain, hardship, and fear. What is the difference between those who are defeated by hardship and those who are sharpened by it? Between those who are broken by pain and those who are made wiser by it? To move through pain to wisdom, through fear to courage, through suffering to strength, requires resilience.
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Eric Greitens (Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life)
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A feistiness of spirit girds us in the most treacherous of moments. A metamorphosis of spirit often occurs after a person conscientiously surveys the resultant outcome of surviving a momentous ordeal and they transfigure personal heartache into a magnanimous manner of living in a just and righteous manner.
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Kilroy J. Oldster (Dead Toad Scrolls)
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We will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
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Gary J. George (The House of Three Murders (Smoke Tree Mystery #1))
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Your inner world gives you resilience and the ability to work through hard times to eventual success. Common sense, compassion, and gratitude are inner gifts, as are adaptability and stoicism under hardship (Vaillant 1993). The inner strengths of patience, courage, and perseverance also are very real to us because we see them in action every day.
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Lindsay C. Gibson (Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents: Practical Tools to Establish Boundaries & Reclaim Your Emotional Autonomy)
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Christianity and Islam both teach that success in life on earth isn’t the ultimate goal—that life is more of a test and learning experience. Christians and Muslims, then, could incorporate that idea and try to see mistakes, problems, and hardships as natural and even good for their spiritual development and greater goals. Instead of thinking, “I made a mistake. I’m worthless,” they could think, “I made a mistake, just as I am meant to do in my time here. How can I learn from it?
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Lawrence Wallace (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: 7 Ways to Freedom from Anxiety, Depression, and Intrusive Thoughts (Happiness is a trainable, attainable skill!))
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A person cannot be so fearful of failure, hardship, and suffering that they never live.
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Kilroy J. Oldster (Dead Toad Scrolls)
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Self-control is not just a puritanical virtue. It is a key psychological trait that breeds success at work and play—and in overcoming life’s hardship,” according to Roy Baumeister. When we depend on external factors, including other people, to live well, life feels risky.
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Jenny Taitz (How to Be Single and Happy: Science-Based Strategies for Keeping Your Sanity While Looking for a Soul Mate)
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However, the concept of the ‘here and now’ seems to be especially linked to Stoic Physics and our relationship with Nature. Hadot particularly notes two benefits that follow from the Stoic focus on the present moment: 1 Hardships become more bearable, being reduced to a succession of fleeting moments, making it easier to accept our fate. 2 Greater mindfulness is brought to the (virtuous or vicious) quality of our own current actions (Hadot, 1998, p. 132).
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Donald J. Robertson (Stoicism and the Art of Happiness: Ancient Tips for Modern Challenges (Teach Yourself))
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If the meaning of the mountain range overlooking the home’s peace is called the Quteniqua Mountains, which is rally made up of the Langeberg Range (northeast of Worcester) and the Tsitsikamma Mountains (east-west along The Garden Route), and if the collective name of the mountain range references the idea of honey, the honey that can be found at Amanda and Lena’s home starts with kindness, a type of kindness the touches the world’s core understanding of compassion.
“I want to give you a used copy of my favorite book that I think helps to explain what exactly I love about this area. Out of all of her books, this is probably one of the least favorite books based off readers’ choice, yet it is my favorite book because I think it truly understands the spirit of this area.” Amanda handed me the book.
“Da-lene Mat-thee,” I said. “Is that correct…”
Before I could finish, she had already answered my question. “Yes, the author that I had spoken about earlier today. Although she is an Afrikaans author, this book is in English. The Mulberry Forest. My favorite character is Silas Miggel, the headstrong Afrikaans man who didn’t want to have the Italian immigrants encroaching onto his part of the forest.”
She paused for a second before resuming, “Yet, he’s the one who came to their rescue when the government turned a blind eye on the hardships of the Italian immigrants. He’s the one who showed kindness toward them even when he didn’t feel that way in his heart. That’s what kindness is all about, making time for our follow neighbors because it’s the right thing to do, full stop. Silas is the embodiment of what I love about the people of this area. It is also what I love about my childhood home growing up in the shantytown. The same thread of tenacity can be found in both places. So, when you read about Silas, think of me because he represents the heart of both Knysna and the Storms River Valley. This area contains a lot of clones just like him, the heartbeat of why this area still stands today.”
That’s the kind of hope that lights up the sky. The Portuguese called the same mountain range Serra de Estrellla or Mountain of the Star…
If we want to change the world, we should follow in the Quteniqua Mountain’s success, and be a reminder that human benevolence is a star that lights up the sky of any galaxy, the birthplace of caring.
As we drove away, for a second, I thought I heard the quiet whispers from Dalene Matthee’s words when she wrote in Fiela’s Child: “If he had to wish, what would he wish for, he asked himself. What was there to wish for…a wish asked for the unattainable. The impossible.”
And that’s what makes this area so special, a space grounded in the impossibility held together through single acts of human kindness, the heart of the Garden Route’s greatest accomplishment.
A story for all times…simply called,
Hospitality, the Garden Route way…
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hlbalcomb
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The most respected and successful people in this world have always had one or more hardships early in life.
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Richard Heart (sciVive)
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The hardships and poverty of my youth had been a good apprenticeship for this form of travel. I had been brought up to understand that material possessions and physical comfort should never be confused with success, achievement and security. And soon I was discovering for myself that our real material needs are very few and that the extras now presented as 'needs' not only endanger true contentment but diminish our human dignity.
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Dervla Murphy (Wheels Within Wheels)
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anyone who has read Chekhov, Gogol, or Dostoyevsky will tell you, and as Sergei himself once reminded us, Russian stories don’t have happy endings. Russians are familiar with hardship, suffering, and despair—not with success and certainly not with justice.
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Bill Browder (Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice)
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Kopiaō (labor) means to work to the point of exhaustion. People sometimes tell me that I work too hard. But compared to Paul, I am not working hard enough. It saddens me to hear of pastors or seminary students who are looking for an easy pastorate. When I was a young pastor, a lady (who did not know I was a pastor) advised me to go into the ministry. When I asked her why, she replied that ministers did not have to do anything and could make lots of money. No one would get that idea by observing Paul. Concerning those who denigrated his ministry, he wrote: Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if insane) I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure upon me of concern for all the churches. (2 Cor. 11:23-28) No one can successfully serve Jesus Christ without working hard. Lazy pastors, Christian leaders, or laymen will never fulfill the ministry the Lord has called them to. Striving is from agōnizomai, which refers to competing in an athletic event. Our English word agonize is derived from it. Success in serving the Lord, like success in sports, demands maximum effort. Lest anyone misunderstand him, Paul says that he strives according to His power, which mightily works within me. All his toil and hard labor would have been useless apart from God’s power in his life.
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John F. MacArthur Jr. (Colossians and Philemon MacArthur New Testament Commentary (MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series Book 22))
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Sometimes when you face hardship you think you've been buried when you've actually been planted. Keep growing.
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Itayi Garande (Paradigm Shift: Change Your Mindset and Live the Life of Your Dreams)
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Grander the dream, steeper the climb.
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Abhijit Naskar (Sapionova: 200 Limericks for Students)
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To labor is to dream,
to dream is to labor.
The lazy can’t dream,
dreamer savors labor.
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Abhijit Naskar (Sapionova: 200 Limericks for Students)
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All crowns come from "once upon a pain".
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Abhijit Naskar (Sapionova: 200 Limericks for Students)
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Explorers of night are emperors of the day.
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Abhijit Naskar (Insan Himalayanoğlu: It's Time to Defect)
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It’s important to think of what it means to powerfully and successfully rise to challenges, and all that it requires: determination, clarity, and steering clear of victim mentality
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Emma R. Wilson (Not a Statistic: Emma Wilson's Story of Determination Through Tragedy)
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We all have to go through tough times in our life at some point or the other. It's how you deal with these hardships that will determine how successful you'll be in life.
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Junamare Tuban
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If you never go through the grief, you’ll never arrive at the growth.
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Curtis Tyrone Jones
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Sometimes the only way to it is through it and if you never go through the grief you’ll never arrive at the growth.
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Curtis Tyrone Jones
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We have a tendency of reacting to various hardships in life by saying "Why me?" We often wonder why it is us who has to deal with pain when everyone around us seems happy. Well, it's simply not true. While their pain maybe different from yours, everyone you see is dealing with pain and hardship in their own way, no matter how happy they seem. Instead of dwelling over the few things that make us unhappy, if we choose to be grateful for the vastly greater number of things in life that work in our favor, we will find happiness even when surrounded by misery.
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Anubhav Srivastava (Inspirational Sayings: Get Super Motivated and Achieve Amazing Success through Inspirational Sayings!)
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Although we were in the best of spirits over the successful conclusion of the drive; although we were glad to be free from herd duty and looked forward eagerly to the journey home, there was still a feeling of regret in our hearts which we could not dispel. In the days of my boyhood I have shed tears when a favorite horse was sold from our little ranch on the San Antonio, and have frequently witnessed Mexican children unable to hide their grief when need of bread had compelled the sale of some favorite horse to a passing drover. But at no time in my life, before or since, have I felt so keenly the parting between man and horse as I did that September evening in Montana. For on the trail an affection springs up between a man and his mount which is almost human. Every privation which he endures his horse endures with him,—carrying him through falling weather, swimming rivers by day and riding in the lead of stampedes by night, always faithful, always willing, and always patiently enduring every hardship, from exhausting hours under saddle to the sufferings of a dry drive. And on this drive, covering nearly three thousand miles, all the ties which can exist between man and beast had not only become cemented, but our remuda as a whole had won the affection of both men and employer for carrying without serious mishap a valuable herd all the way from the Rio Grande to the Blackfoot Agency.
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Andy Adams (10 Masterpieces of Western Stories)
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It is through aversion to hardship that great ideas are born, but it is only through acceptance of it that these ideas can be implemented
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Agona Apell (The Success Genome Unravelled: Turning men from rot to rock)
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So what separates a season of failure from a lifetime of failure? First you must be willing to recognize hardship as an opportunity to learn, willing yourself to push through failure. Second, you must be careful to not succeed at the wrong things. You have to pay attention to passion and beware of the temptation of success. It’s not enough to be good at something; you must focus on what you are meant to do. And appreciate that your understanding of that, over time, just might change. So be ready to make more pivots along the way.
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Jeff Goins (The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do)