Confronting adversity is the essence of a life worth living. If we are not pushing ourselves beyond the comfort zone; if we are not demanding more from ourselves by learning and growing as we go along in life, we are choosing a numb and unexciting existence.

We are denying ourselves with extraordinary opportunities to experience the joy of living. The more difficulties we have to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration our life will be.

The power to hold on in spite of mounting adversity is the quality of a winner. Our greatest glory is not from never failing but in rising every time we fail. It is our relentless and determined effort that will eventually break down all resistance and sweep all the barriers before us.

Persistence is taking pain to overcome every obstacle, to do all that’s necessary to reach your goal. All great achievements require time. Endurance is the crowning quality of success.

When I was growing up, I enjoyed flying kites. We made them out of bamboo and multicolored papers and we used the wind to fly them. These colorful creations of varying shapes and sizes filled the skies like beautiful birds darting and dancing in the heady atmosphere above the earth. As the strong winds gusted against the kites, we kept them in check with the string attached to them.

It was not until I studied Physics in high school that I learned why the kite flies against the force of the wind and why it soars as the wind gets stronger.

Later in life I learned how much like a kite we sometimes are. God gives us adversity and restrictions, rules to follow from which we can grow and gain strength.

Restraint is a necessary counterpart to the winds of adversity and opposition. Some of us tug at the rules so hard that we never soar to reach the heights we might have obtained. Some of us try to keep part of the Commandments but never raise high enough to get our tails off the ground.

Determination, patience and perseverance are the strengths that enable us to pass the barrier of useless thoughts in order to create positive thoughts and to be successful in whatever we wish to accomplish.

They come from within and they teach us not to push but rather to hold, wait and appreciate the game of life instead, knowing that nothing remains the same and everything will change at some point in time.

Let us each rise to the great heights our Heavenly Father has designed for us, recognizing that some of the restraints that we could practice are actually the steadying force that helps us ascend and achieve the things that we aspire.

By Tim Pedrosa

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Every great man, every successful man, no matter what the field of endeavor, has known the magic that lies in these words: Every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit-W. Clement Stone