Just think you can anyway

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.—Romans 5:3-5

No one will ever mistake me for a Bible-thumper, but there’s no doubt tons of wisdom to be found there. That passage was part of yesterday’s reading in church, and it kind of struck home with me in several interesting but probably dull to most people ways. I don’t dwell on my past, but I’ve certainly had my share of problems. Maybe I’ll discuss the someday, but not right now. I’m not a sad person by nature, and those are sad subjects.

Anyway, I’ve been through a lot just in the past five years, good and bad. It’s not all been suffering, but just as with the sad stuff emotional highs produce endurance as well. I’ve lost a lot and gotten a lot in return. I’ve been at the total bottom spiritually, financially and emotionally, and I’ve also been happier and felt more complete than I ever have before. I kind of thought the whole life experience roller coaster would be confined to your late teens and early 20’s, but apparently I’m wrong (or just a late bloomer).

So if endurance produces character, and character produces hope, then it’s no wonder that I really believe that I can get this done and done well. Sometimes I really wonder if I’m fooling myself but I don’t think I am. I quit smoking almost cold turkey because I believed I could do it. I got in shape for the same reason. I’ve done a ton of things in the last few years that could almost be described as impulsive, but they’ve all worked out well. Some have worked out very well.

I ran a marathon this past February. I didn’t run it fast, but I finished. It wasn’t all that hard, it just took a lot of training, patience, and a strong belief that with the proper preparation I could do it. Well, I did it. I also believe that if I follow the plans closely, take my time with things, and readily ask people who are smarter and more talented than I am for help when I need it then this boat’s going to happen and be pretty nice at the end.

Trust me, I’m no one special. There’s nothing really remarkable about me in any terms, I’m a pretty normal guy with my own unique blend of strengths and weaknesses. The difference is, I really believe that I can do anything I set my mind to right now. I don’t think enough people do, and that’s a shame.