Fear can paralyze the heart. It is more pleasant to wear a old worn out pair of shoes than to break in a new pair. Fear of the unknown. I believe it was US president Roosevelt who said what do you have to fear but fear itself. So true yet we choose to be enslaved in the chains of fear. That is not what our creator would want for us. To be fearless we must believe in ourselves. We must have a positive self esteem and feel good about us. We must overcome negativity and psychological baggage. We must be fearless....be able to dream it and do it and in that we will become self made independent and a true contributor to society.

Hard times happen. it is your attitude to those hard time that determine if they are truly hard. One must learn to let go and not be attached to things of this world. When you are at your low you have no where to go but up. Sacrifices teach us to to give and love selflessly. It is a spiritual thing. you learn to value that which will last past your life in this world.

I think each of us have crosses in life that bring us closer to God. I believe they are also there to prevent us from growing too attached to this world. There is an incompleteness in our lives in this world that can only be filled by God. and so we look forward to the next world but realize we need to grow and be fashioned by the master carpenter to be ready for the next. If we are not we will not enjoy heaven nor be appropriate for it as we would have impurities. . Our impurities need to be chiseled out to make something more beautiful and organic. Just as there are toxins in our food and bodies so too our hearts. So God creates hard times to grow us like rain on a flower until we blossom into our full potential. Hard times are a blessing to breathe new life into us and make us stand up taller and stronger than before.

Thank you for sharing such a wonderful post. This subject needs our attention for understanding and you are leading in that effort.