What Doens't Kill You Only Makes You Stronger!

Ever heard the phrase what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger? Well I have! I've heard it many times throughout my 20 years and trust me I haven't always believed it. Like most people I thought the slightest problem was going to be the end for me. Giving a speech used to seem like the worst thing I would ever have to do in life. I mean seriously who thought of turning public speaking into a class by itself anyways! But speech day came, I got up there in front of the class fidgeting hands and all. Turns out it wasn't the end of my life, in fact it wasn't really that bad. I'm not saying its something I'll ever look forwards to doing but now I know that it definitely wont kill me.

Point is whenever most of us come to a tough spot in life whether it be financially, academically, socially, or any other area we think it is the absolute worse. That there is no way we will ever be able to deal with whatever problem or task has been thrown at us. Most people give up on themselves before they even start. Kids are assigned speeches all the time in school. I don't know about you but when I was in school I dreaded speech day. I figured there was always somebody smarter, better at public speaking, teachers pet, those kids who were good at everything they did so if I was going to suck why spend tons of time worrying about it. I would just put it out of my mind until a couple nights....ok I'm not going to lie usually it was the night before my speech was due and then I'd cram all the work into that one night. I didn't even give myself a chance. Had I spent the time and effort perfecting my project I probably could have kicked butt.

People, myself included, shouldn't be so quick to assume things. In school I always assumed someone was better than me. So why try so hard when I'd never be top of the class? People get bills knowing they don't have the money to pay them and assume nothing can be done when in reality all you have to do is make a few phone calls and chances are there is something that can be done to help you better the situation. People are laid off from jobs they've had for 20 years. They look around at whats going on with the economy assume since they were laid off from their job they wont be able to get another one. I mean after all times are tough right!

WRONG!!!! You should never assume anything when it is not in your favor. When a problem is thrown at you look at it as a learning experience....a challenge! After all people don't grow if they don't challenge themselves. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I'm also a hardcore believer that you will never be given an obstacle that you can't overcome.

I know people think I just talk from no experience and sometimes I do but with this I definitely know what I am talking about. This past year has been really hard on my family. My dad who is self employed usually makes really good money doing siding work. He's been self employed for about 13 years and we've never had a year this bad. Like a lot of families we've fallen behind on bills, caught up and then fallen behind again. We've received disconnection notices and had those days where we searched the cabinets knowing we weren't going to find anything to eat. But no matter how bad things have gotten at the end of the day we still have our house, our cars, and each other. My dad still has his business and we're hoping things will get better. Until then I'll keep taking care of the bills I can.

This year has been nothing but challenges for me and my family. My mom had her 3rd heart attack that taught me to appreciate the time I have with people I care about. Saying we don't argue any more would be a lie but I definitely appreciate her a lot more and I try not to let the little stuff bother me as much. Giving up all my extra money to take care of my families bills has given me a new appreciation for money. Now I think twice before blowing my money on all the little crap that I see and think I absolutely need to have.