Has life made you a Samurai Sword or a rusted broken piece of metal?
“Great causes have a way of choosing people who are worthy to suffer; and it is through those who suffer that causes them to come to victory.”… Dovert Walton McElory
“We all know that life provides challenges and in dealing with those challenges we either become broken, brittle or stronger”. … Hank Jennings
Those challenges temper us like the process of making a samurai swords. Samurai swords are one of the strongest and sharpest instruments made from tempered steel.
This is exactly what happens to us as individuals in dealing with the challenges of life. Will you let life make you a samurai sword or will you let it turn you into a rusted and broken piece of metal? The choice is yours.
I call my own personal challenges The Big 3, the three major things that shaped my life. My first challenge was the tragic death of my dad when I was 6 years old. That was when I realized I was the man of the house and had to help my mother raise my younger sisters. As the oldest child I was forced into maturity and had to accept my responsibilities at a very early age. At that time I could only ask why did someone take my father from me. I did not understand people telling me he had gone on to be with God. I wanted to go with him and be with God too, I did not understand the concept of death. As I got older I realized this had only been a test to temper me for life.
My second one was during my teen years when my neck was broken in a car accident. I was almost paralyzed from the neck down. I was an innocent passenger in a car and was almost stuck down tragically in the formative years of my life I spent months in the care of doctors and specialists. I cried and prayed and cried some more, why me God. With prayers and by the grace of God I healed without surgery. Doctors are still baffled to this day when reviewing my X-rays; they look at my neck and say Did you break your neck? Again, As I got older I realized this had only been a test to temper me for life.
My third and the worst was the untimely loss of my best friend, my mentor and the most influential person in my life, my Mom. She was struck down at the age of 48 with terminal cancer. This rocked the core of my existence more than all of the others combined. This also had a devastating impact on my younger sisters. They were far too young to have actualized the previous loss of our father, but this one hit them very hard. My youngest sister had just started college. If life had not prepared me for this moment; I do not know what I would have done. So I negotiated some additional strength; from somewhere inside of my now tempered soul and assisted my sisters through the toughest tragedy in their young lives. I cried and begged God not to take my mother, but once again I was not comforted with the fact that she was going to be be with God. Again, As I got older I realized this had only been a test to temper me for life.
Today nothing bothers me because I know some how some way, I will get through it.
What are your own personal challenges, and how might you need to deal with them? When life hits you broadside, how will you respond? Or those around you?
In today’s world people have lost loved ones in Iraq or Afghanistan or at Spelman College, lost jobs, lost 401k money, and even lost home equity. Some families are not surviving these times and others are struggling. Some crazy people all around us have seemingly lost the value for human life or common respect for each other Kanye West and Representative Joe Wilson (R – SC) have recently shown that publicly. Criminals and sick minds continue to shock and disgust our communities based on the types of crimes that continue to occur with increasing frequency and savagery in all communities; from gang violence in the urban areas to Columbine HS in the suburbs. They stagger our minds with the level of wanton brutality combined with their sadistic mindsets when they explode with rage, stupidity or sickness on helpless or defenseless victims.
Today we certainly live in an uncertain world, but in reality it has always been that way, look at history. We see people lose their composure for events beyond their control everyday in the news. But I tell you this, these are only tests to temper you for life.
Enjoy the moments sometimes, tell your loved ones you love them, stop and smell a rose occasionally, watch a sunrise over the ocean, see a majestic view from a mountain top, play with a baby and make them laugh. These are some simple pleasures of life that don’t cost you anything.
Find a way to enjoy your day. Have a great day! Have a great life!
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
Hank Jennings
C.E.O., H&H Diversified Solutions LLC.
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