"It's not an easy road,
Many see the glamour and the glitter
And think it's a bed of rose.
Who feels it knows,
Lord help me sustain these blows."
- From the song 'Not An Easy Road' by Buju Banton

http://youtu.be/I02Kd_FIklg

Lisa Kudrow's Story:

"...Over the next eight years, my resolve and commitment was steadily challenged: challenged by casting directors telling me to my face that I was horrible, agents letting me know, "It's hard. We don't know what to do with you. They want gorgeous on TV, you know? There's really not a place for you." Finally, I get a coveted spot in the main company of the Groundlings, and the director there didn’t like my work. "The producers came to the show and they liked your sketches for their TV show. Can you believe it? All the great people they saw and they chose YOU. I just don't get it." Lorne Michaels came to a show to look for new cast members for Saturday Night Live and out of Me, Kathy Griffin, Julia Sweeney they picked Julia Sweeny. I was devastated. That director told me, "Of course they picked Julia, who else would they have picked?" Naturally, these things knocked me off balance and caused me to wonder if this was the right path for me. Am I going about this the right way? Do I belong here? Maybe I never will be a working actor and I've wasted all this time...then I'd DECIDE, no, they're just wrong (and a little insensitive) but mostly, they are just wrong."
- Lisa Kudrow's Commencement Speech 2010
http://www.graduationwisdom.com/speeches/0075-kudrow.htm

"Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which [the Lord] has promised to those who love Him."
- Holy Bible (New American Standard Version), James 1:12

"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit."
- Napoleon Hill

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress."
- Frederick Douglass

MainMessageForToday
It takes resolve, strength to get through a struggle. At the end, the person who entered the struggle is usually a better individual.

From the song 'I Look To You' by Whitney Houston:

As I lay me down,
Heaven hear me now.
I'm lost without a cause,
After giving it my all.

Winter storms have come,
And darkened my sun.
After all that I've been through,
Who on earth can I turn to?

I look to you.
After all my strength is gone,
In you I can be strong
I look to you.
And when melodies are gone,
In you I hear a song.
I look to you.

http://youtu.be/5Pze_mdbOK8

Life stranded on an island was a struggle in this movie:

Cast Away
https://youtu.be/4olwbrY2kwE

(clip from movie)

"Times of great calamity and confusion have been productive for the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace. The brightest thunder-bolt is elicited from the darkest storm."
- Charles Caleb Colton

"Life's difficulties develop in us strong spirit. Every challenge we overcome promotes strength of the spirit."
- Lailah Gifty Akita

"Someone once told me that life wasn't fair...and they were right. But I don't think that life was ever meant to be fair or perfect. It's not the tragedy, it's how we deal with it. It's whether we come out stronger because of it. It's not about blocking out the pain or hiding from it, it's about letting the pain shape you into someone better than you were before."
- Nicole Garber, Coming Apart: The Disillusioning Art of Shell Formation, Volume 1 

"Nothing is given to man on earth - struggle is built into the nature of life, and conflict is possible - the hero is the man who lets no obstacle prevent him from pursuing the values he has chosen."
- Andrew Bernstein

MainMessageForToday
Life is a struggle. Everyone experiences difficulty, conflicts, and bad times.

Theme for the week: Struggle, which follows the previous theme Peace of Mind.