Getting knocked down in life is a given; getting up and moving forward is a choice.

Could it be that God has been trying to form the quality of patience in us by putting difficulties, obstacles, and obstinate people in our lives? God's curriculum for all of us includes several courses on Patience 101, 201, and 301. Will we try to skip school, or will we be good students and learn our lessons?

Life flows swiftly by and sometimes through tragedies, but it keeps flowing on.

She wasn't a cowardIf she were she would have retreated back into her shell years before and pulled back entirely from life. She was a fighter. Life knocked her down, and she coped by getting up and moving on.

God has made me into a tough, battle-hardened believer. I am very grateful to have those eleven years behind me. But I used them. I chose to survive with my faith intact. I chose to come out strong and together. I endured, and now I'm going to thrive. I don't expect life to be easy. I do expect God to be there with me. He was during the last eleven years.

No matter what advantages you are born with-- money, intelligence, an appealing personality, a sunny outlook, or good social connections-- none of these provides a magic key to an easy existence. Somehow life manages to bring difficult problems, the causes of untold suffering and struggle. How you meet your challenges makes all the difference between the promise of success and the specter of failure.

Disease and distress need to be healed. Yet over a lifetime, the key to well-being is a person's coping skills. With poor coping skills, you become prey to every accident, setback, or disaster. with strong coping skills, you become resilient in the face of misfortune, and resilience has been shown repeatedly to be present in people who survive to great old age with a sense of fulfillment.

Suffering contains a hidden spiritual message. It exists until the message is heard.

Your pain is the key to your healing.

When you dig a well, there is no sign of water until you reach it, only rocks and dirt to move out of the way.

He knows himself, and all that's in him, who knows adversity.

The question in life is not whether you get knocked down. You will. The question is, are you ready to get back up... And fight for what you believe in?