“If you’re going through hell, keep going!” — Winston Churchill
The Reverend Robert Schuller, pastor of the well-known Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, CA, recently died. A prolific author, one phrase he was most known for is: “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”
Which of us has not known tough times? A student’s stressful struggle to make good grades may seem trivial to someone who’s trying to make mortgage payments, which may seem trivial to someone battling to survive cancer. But you know, each challenge is valid and important to each individual. A 20 year old has his worries, and an 80 year old has hers.
Maybe sometimes the best we can do is remember the words of Winston Churchill, Rev. Schuller, or my own grandfather. “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps,” he’d say. This doesn’t apply to every challenge, of course, but sometimes all we have are those inner reserves, those strong, courageous parts of ourselves that we must summon up, dust off, and trust to lead us to a better place.