What do you do when it seems like the bottom is falling out of your life? What do you do when it appears that everything that can go wrong does go wrong and all at the same time? What do you do when it appears that life has been designed to break you? How do you keep your head up when your dream becomes your nightmare? You decide that you must fight for your life. You embrace the reality that you are resilient. You tell yourself that you are a survivor. You will fight and win.

You tell yourself that you are a warrior. A warrior is one who fights back and win. Warriors win battle after battle. You find peace and comfort in knowing that after the rain comes a rainbow. You remind yourself that spring always comes after winter.

Nothing in this life is permanent. Everything is subject to change – even the seasons of our life. One of my favorite people in the world says it like this, “There are five seasons. Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Due season”. Due season comes after we have gone through a tumultuous period in our lives and we are due to receive all of the good things we are waiting on. We are due to accomplish our dreams because we have put in the work. We are due for the season of the tough times to change and yield way for the times, which bring us great joy.

Fall will always come after summer and winter will always be followed by spring and spring will always be followed by summer. What I am trying to say is that just as there will always be seasons in the natural, there are seasons in our lives. Some seasons will be longer than others, but at some point the season has to shift. Though it may appear, the hard season or the drought will last forever, it won’t. The challenge is reminding ourselves that what we are going through is temporary. It is learning to become mentally tough. The fact of the matter is season often the season is there to develop us and prepare us for the next season. Many of us want to experience great success. With great success comes many challenges. Success is not easy and the ride can be both rewarding and hard at the same time. If we are not mentally tough, it can break us.

We won’t always have a down or rainy season. The sun will come out again in our own lives. There are cycles and seasons and we can go crazy if we don’t understand that what we are experiencing today is temporary and will not last forever. Hang in there and stay in the fight. Do not check out on life because another season is coming if remain steadfast. Being mentally tough requires you to have hope and faith even when it appears there is no end in sight. It requires you to make up your mind that you are a winner and you are willing to do whatever it takes to not only endure the season, but learn from it. Being mentally tough requires focus and not giving into your feelings. Tough times are temporary times and cannot destroy the hopes and dreams of tough people.

Question: How tough are you? What are you facing now that requires you to re-calibrate how you view the situation?