“Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got where they are had to begin where they were.” ~Richard L. Evans
We all come into this world the same way: naked with nothing. Now, given, some of us have some advantages that soon become apparent: money, brains, looks. These advantages can make it easier to succeed in life. But despite advantages, however abundant they may seem, everyone has to build themselves up from this initial, naked beginning. Will we end up how we started? Or will we take whatever advantages we may have, build our resolve, and make something of ourselves?
Regardless of whatever advantages you may or may not have, life happens. I’ve said it before: Things get in the way. Plans don’t work out the way we’d like them to. Our goals seem too far out of reach to be achievable. As easy as it can be to let these disappointments bring us down, it can be helpful to think that all of the people we look up to — all the people we admire for having done great things — have had to deal with the same stuff. They had to make the decision to rise past it, to build themselves up beyond the hardships of life to become successful. They all started the same as we did: staring a difficult future in the face, having to make the decision to succumb to it or rise above it.
Will you let life get the better of you, or will you rise to the occasion?
A Life You Want 