Above all else, remain hopeful.
Life will not always be easy.
You will experience tragedy, loss, and pain.
Some days, the bad will seem to outweigh the good.
The way forward may not be obvious.
Everything passes in time.
Work hard, but remain hopeful.
REMAIN HOPEFUL
By Robert Van Valkenburgh
Meditations of a Gentle Warrior
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Progress is not linear.
Growth is neither easy nor is it pretty.
The path to becoming who you are is a long and winding one.
There will be many obstacles along the way.
You will make many mistakes.
You will experience both joy and tragedy, love and loss, ecstasy and pain.
Life can be breathtakingly beautiful in one moment and shockingly ugly in the next.
Embrace the good and the bad, and stumble forward as gracefully as you can.
Art has the power to make life more livable.
No one escapes this life without experiencing tragedy, loss, and heartbreak along the way.
These experiences often leave us feeling confused and alone.
But art has the power to transform these experiences and us along with them.
Art connects us emotionally to others in a mysterious, magical and very real way.
It can give meaning to our suffering and amplification to our joy.
It can make us feel less alone and afraid, or more empowered and courageous.
Art is medicine for the soul.
You get to decide what to make of your day.
Unexpected and undesirable things are going to arise in spite of your best laid plans.
While you cannot control everything that happens or does not happen, you can make the most of whatever comes your way.
It starts with a decision.
You can either decide that life is out to get you and that you are a victim of your circumstances or you can decide that life is happening for you and that your circumstances are an opportunity for growth and learning.
Neither of these attitudes changes what life throws at you, but one certainty will make life a lot more enjoyable.
The truth is that everyone struggles.
Everyone experiences hardship, tragedy, disappointment, and loss.
The people who thrive in spite of life’s challenges are those who decide to do so.
The more you open up, the more you risk getting hurt.
You cannot choose to only experience that which is pleasant.
To feel is to feel everything, both pleasant and painful.
To be open is to be open to everything that life has to offer.
Perhaps more importantly, to be open is to be open to everything your inner life has to offer.
How can you know who you are if you deny the parts of yourself that are unpleasant, frightening, or painful?
How can you truly live if you avoid life itself?
Embrace the joy and the pain, the beauty and the tragedy, the hope and the fear.
The more you open up, the more opportunities you create to live.
Meditations on God 