Debra Norman:  

"You can tell how big a person is by what it takes to discourage him." I have stood, with a shaking and exhausted body with unsupported toes with leaning shoulders and peering eyes I have thought, with a clouded and confused mind with movie-reel memories with puzzled reflections with salty tears I have stood and I have thought now what? What are you going to do now that you are at this edge? When you are at the proverbial edge, you don't always have the capability to answer the voices that question and you certainly don't have the clarity to rationally decide so, now what? I will tell you what. I will tell you that just about the time you don't, you do. And just about the time you won't, you will. And just about the time you can't, I promise you you can and you do and you will. That's right, you will yourself to step back. Maybe sometimes your will is in the form of a person. And maybe sometimes your will is in the form of a faint voice, a voice that gently whispers, "You only fail when you quit." I have learned that persistence is born from disappointment and therefore, I am thankful for the discouragement in my life. I hope to make mistakes. I want to test my patience with impatient people. I wish for a little chaos so that I can enjoy the peace. I need to be around angry people because they help me cherish my joy. I want to spread the positive energy that I have cultivated through these years amongst different people, difficult transitions, bad choices, good choices & no choice at all because without these years of preparation, I wouldn't be able to stand here today on this new edge, with an open heart and out stretched arms ready to fly... For this month let discouragement in laugh a little more breath a little deeper and know that you will be stronger for having done so "Perhaps strength doesn t reside in having never been broken but in the courage required to grow strong in the broken places." You see, I have many broken places within me, places invisible to the eye, places that can be covered with a smile, a laugh or a quick witted response that deflects a truth.There are several things that people dont know; that those around us, those who love us will never know there are unseen bruises, battered souls, hidden scars and shattered dreams. Some of the broken places within me have healed and they are stronger than they would have been had they not broke. I dont know where you need healing, but you do. I dont know if someone around you needs compassion, and you may not either .So, instead of staring at someones bruises, ask if you can help. And know this, that being broken doesnt mean you are weak, it means that you have the ability to grow and become stronger than you ever imagined you could be "One thing we do know: Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment." Eckhart It is hard for me to tell you that you are exactly where you are supposed to be especially if where you are, right now, is a place of pain and sadness, a place where dreams fade like the smoke from a burning candle especially if you are in a relationship where someone has stopped believing in you, if you are surrounded by people who you don't trust it is hard for me to tell you that you should live and that is exactly what you need to accept.. Acceptance, in today's world, seems to mean passivity they are not synonymous. To accept is to take an experience for exactly what it is and to work through it. To be passive is to look at an experience and walk past it, around it, to do anything to avoid it I spent years avoiding conflict I spent years "yelling at gravity...Expand for more