I have enjoyed reading many of them. I appreciate people's perspectives and experience. My favorite? "Getting up one more time than you fall down."
Unfortunately, I have been unable to find out who coined that definition. I keep getting unknown for the author.
When I was a boy, I used to play baseball on a team sponsored by United Fence. This was back in the day when baseball was the talk of young boys everywhere, and what was especially neat is that it was the same team as my brother Gregg was on. Of course, I admired Gregg and his friends since they were older and much better at baseball. But Gregg in particular took on the task of helping mentor me and welcomed me into his circle of friends. That meant the world to me then and is still a source of strength to this very day. He boosted my confidence when I needed encouragement. In my mind, Gregg could have been the one that came up with that saying.
There were others I admired then too like Babe Ruth who incredibly hit 714 home runs back in 1914-1935. What's so cool about that to me is his achievement was back when nobody else was even close. But it is also interesting to note that he had 1330 strikeouts, way more than his peers. He could have been the one to author that thought.
Or it could have been Albert Einstein. He is well-known for his accomplishments right? Well even Einstein had his challenges. He did not speak until he was 4-years-old and did not read until he was 7. His parents thought he was "sub-normal," and one of his teachers described him as "mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in foolish dreams." He was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. He did eventually learn to speak and read. We are still trying even today to comprehend his accomplishments in math. Einstein could have been the person behind the adage.
As a young man, Abraham Lincoln went to war a captain and returned a private. Afterwards, he was a failure as a businessman. As a lawyer in Springfield, he was too impractical and temperamental to be a success. He turned to politics and was defeated in his first try for the legislature, again defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for congress, defeated in his application to be commissioner of the General Land Office, defeated in the senatorial election of 1854, defeated in his efforts for the vice-presidency in 1856, and defeated in the senatorial election of 1858. At about that time, he wrote in a letter to a friend, "I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth." President Lincoln has been remembered as one of the greatest Presidents of our country. But he faced tremendous challenges before he ever achieved that status. He too could have authored the thought about getting up one more time after a fall.
Of course, the obstacles these men faced didn't prevent them from rebounding and accomplishing great tasks. But these hurdles helped make them the great men they became. They are well-known and respected for their achievements even today.
And so it is with you. You, too, can overcome the obstacles you face in life. The Lord has provided the great plan of happiness. Confronting your struggles with faith will help you become stronger and better. I am so proud of all of you and admire your courage.
Well, I may never know who actually authored that wise saying, but for me now, it just as well could have been my family. Because they're often the ones I think of for courageously facing challenges.
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