LIFE (IT HURTS) SOMETIMES...

Start Where You Stand

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by Berton Braley

Start where you stand

and never mind the past,

The past won't help you in beginning new,

If you have left it all behind at last Why,

that's enough, you're done with it, you're through;

This is another chapter in the book,

This is another race that you have planned,

Don't give the vanished days a backward look,

Start where you stand.

The world won't care about your old defeats

If you can start anew and win success,

The future is your time, and time is fleet

And there is much of work and strain and stress;

Forget the buried woes and dead despairs,

Here is a brand new trial right at hand,

The future is for him who does and dares,

Start where you stand.

Old failures will not halt, old triumphs aid,

To-day's the thing, to-morrow soon will be;

Get in the fight and face it unafraid,

And leave the past to ancient history;

What has been, has been; yesterday is dead

And by it you are neither blessed nor banned,

Take courage, man, be brave and drive ahead,

Start where you stand.

Have you ever had a heavy heart? No matter what you say or do, people refuse to listen. Have you ever cried out to the Lord? Life become more challenging as each day went by. Have you ever questioned whether the sun would shine again? Currently, all you see and experience are storms. Have you ever felt handcuffed in life? So often in our lives, we spend so much time trying to figure out where things went wrong. We begin to do self-evaluations. We begin to point the finger at ourselves. Even when you know you did nothing wrong, you find yourself accepting the blame. Have you been there? Are you there now? Do you have unanswered questions running through your mind? You sit back and notice how different people are now, notice how…once friend…now back-stabber, once confident…now complainer and once joyous…now jealous. You find yourself surrounded but you still feel alone. My friend, LIFE (IT HURTS) SOMETIMES! You watch the news and everything sounds negative. You watch television and everything seems degrading. You walk the neighborhood and everyone seems afraid. People have changed. LIFE (IT HURTS) SOMETIMES! It is during the toughest times in your life that God draws closer to you. It is during your challenging and overwhelming times, that you must know who God is. You must understand what He can and will do. You can never doubt His abilities. LIFE (IT HURTS) SOMETIMES, but God can heal all the time. In your life, there are no problems, dilemmas, burdens, worries, concerns or circumstances that God cannot handle. Even when friends and family forsake you, God will never leave you alone. Remember, earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal…Thought to Remember: Yes, Life Can Hurt Sometimes, but God will be there all the time.

Live For Today

Have you ever wished, when a day went wrong

a wish that's quite in vain

that it were only possibleto live that day again

You'd start out in the morning

with the prayers you should have said

and through the days your actions

with tolerance be led

The many little instances

that tried your patience, true

if only you could start again

you'd know now what to do

You'd kneel and say your evening prayers

and thank the lord above

for all the pleasant hours past

your heart at peace with love

But since this is a wish in vain

and never can be true

there's only one alternative

just one thing you can do

To live today in such a way

that when tomorrow comes

the memories of yesterday

will all be cherished ones.