Roller coasters can be a fun activity for people. The anticipation of a hair raising experience you get when the ride starts comes to fruition when you come to that first big drop. On the way to that first big drop, the coaster takes you high into the air for you to contemplate as to what comes next. This gives you time to prepare for going from a slow rise to a jettisoning trip back down.  No matter what you do at the height of that roller coaster, you can’t do anything to stop the drop you’re about to experience.

Life is similar to being on a roller coaster in this sense. Unfortunately, life is not guaranteed to be just high peaks. In a persons lifetime they will experience the lows as well as the highs. When we come to the low points in our lives it is fast just like the roller coaster jettisoning down to the bottom. We have to come to a place in our lives that we can sustain the low points and get back to our happy point. This is called Perseverance. Dictionary.com tells us that Perseverance is the continued steady belief or efforts, withstanding discouragement or difficulty.

I have experienced setbacks in life that included parental abandonment, job loss, a child being ran over by a vehicle and even the death of another child. I wouldn’t be here today if I didn’t persevere through those lows in my life. I owe this to a strong family, strong self and most importantly strong faith. Remember the words from the bible in 1 Samuel 12:22 that says “For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own.” 

More than anything else your takeaway from today is that YOU will have to develop a strong self to persevere. You have to determine that you are a special human being and have things to accomplish on this earth. For me it was to accomplish goals that no one could take away. These things were to be a good father and achieve a higher education.

Life will get you down at some point during this journey we’re on. Start developing a strong self, stay close to family and strengthen your relationship with God. This will help you persevere during the lows and get you back to your happy point.

ACR