Everyone goes through troubling times in their lives. Some people want to give up during their difficulties, but that is not the best way to move forward and work through negative circumstances.

There are some who believe that part of the purpose of human life is to experience the most we can, and those experiences can be nega-tive or positive.

By struggling through low points and easing through high points, you get to experience all sides of human nature and of human existence. You are able to transcend the limitations of a narrow viewpoint which an entirely smooth path would give you. The difficulties can also give you a greater appreciation of the good times that you have. Nothing is lost in hardships; rather, great things are gained. You actually enrich your life by persevering.

There is also a lot to be learned from difficult experiences. You can look around you and see who supported you throughout your tough times and realize that those who abandoned you in your time of need were not really true friends after all. You can look at yourself and become aware of how strong you are and how much stronger you have become from pushing through your difficult times. You can realize how much more you might be able to accomplish with your hard-earned and ever increasing strength. Overall, you gain more from your difficult times than you think you have lost.

Instead of seeing yourself as a failure, recognize that you are a success just by fighting against the hardships, by never giving up. It is important to know that just by the very act of living, you are thriving in a difficult situation. It may not seem that way to you while you are in the thick of the pain and hardships, but the truth is that every step you take through the rough times makes you stronger. So, never think of yourself as permanently damaged by the hard times.

Although it may seem to you that you are being diminished by the struggles, you are actually being fortified. You are indeed changed by the difficulties, but always ultimately for the better. You grow through experiencing hard times, not despite of them, but because of them. This personal growth is always a good thing. For the rest of your life, you will carry with you the knowledge that you never gave up, and that you overcame difficult circumstances. Remembering your courage will help encourage you to move forward through challenging circumstances in the future.

The road to your current position has been a winding one, full of twists and turns, of hills and valleys. There will be many more such roads and journeys in your life, all filled with highs and lows. But at the end of each road, you will find yourself in a position of strength.

Always remember that things do get better. There is no reason to despair or see yourself as stuck just because your situation has de-teriorated and your life seems to have become unrecognizable to you.

There is hope. There is an end to the ups and downs. There really is. It may take time, and a lot of effort, but you can wade through the muck and detritus, and you will come back to yourself and realize that, in fact, you never really left yourself at all.

To everyone out there who is going through hardships, please know that there is a way out of the struggle. Keep moving on. Situations inevitably change and you can reach a point of calm from which you can review the past and look to the future.

That point in time could be closer than you think.