Equipped for Life

The celebrated actress, Bette Davis, once had a pillow embroidered with, “Old age is no place for sissies.” The fact is, life itself is not for sissies.

When you think about the trials of old age, it is easy to agree that old age is not for sissies. But you know, every age has its trials. When we are young, we face difficult decisions about education, career and family. We struggle to come to terms with our emotions, hormones, and identity issues.

Later, we agonize over raising our children, gaining financial security, and retirement. As we get older, we are faced with losing those we love to death. Life, if we are living it fully, never ceases to present us with challenges and problems to solve. The secret to successful living is not in finding an easy, carefree existence, but in being “up to” the trials that life brings.

It has been said that we don’t so much break down from overwork, but from “under being.” Think about that. Most of us are not given too much to cope with. It is just that sometimes we feel as if our inner resources are too low to handle it.

A camping supply company slogan once put it this way: “See us for supplies so you can rough it smoothly.” To rough it smoothly through life, you need to be well equipped, too. You need good values, a good support system of people who care about you, a purpose you believe in strongly, an optimistic spirit, respect for others, and respect for yourself, as well.

Just like a well-supplied camper, if you have these things, it won’t matter much if the weather turns bad where you set up your camp. You will come through just fine. You will survive and thrive. You are as persistent as the weather, and as resilient to that weather as the “mountains” you decide to climb.