Our lives are filled with twists and turns. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. We do the very best we can but we often face disappointments. People we thought will always be around, pass away unexpectedly and our hearts are shattered. We get bad news from the doctor with regards to our health - high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension or cancer, devastating our lives; making our hopes and dreams plunge to all time lows. We grieve over our losses, regrets and failures. We become tempted to retreat and give up on life altogether. But it is important that we do not take the path of least resistance.

Someone once told me that things become much harder to bear when relief is just around the corner. My encouragement to you today is to hold on, nothing you ever experience is wasted. At the barest minimum, you become stronger as you go through these uncomfortable times. A quote from Judith Hill reinforces this message. She says: "I think you need to go through some stuff to really appreciate life and understand what it means to persevere, overcome and have faith. I think those tough times make you a stronger person."

There was a time when I'd sit and complain about all that went wrong in my life - who hurt me and let me down, the mistakes I've made that I thought I'd never recover from, everything I believed I had lost and what didn't work out the way that I would have liked it to. Now I can honestly look back and confidently say that all those things that happened was part of a greater design; a much more significant purpose. I say this now because I know that without all the losses, irritations and disappointments, I could never be where I am today nor will I ever attain the heights that has been ordained for me to reach in the future. Each of those things I considered tragic was actually training ground to prepare me for what was in store for me. It wasn't a cake walk and maybe if I could have seen then the life that I have now, the difficult times would have been easier to bear. But at the same time, if I knew in advance that good times were just around the corner, what will be the function of faith?

It's time for us to quit sweating our difficult times. Rather than turning inward and asking, "Why me?" Let's tell ourselves, "Why not I." Let's view our tough times as opportunities. We must learn to ask ourselves, "What is the lesson I am meant to learn here? How can I be better rather than bitter because of this?" Let's make our unfortunate experiences the fuel we need to get our lives to the next level. Trust me when I say whining and complaining are fruitless endeavors. I did a tremendous amount of that. They get us nowhere but drain a ton of energy that could otherwise be used positively.

When you are able to view your tough experiences differently, there are no limits to what you can accomplish. Joel Osteen put it this way: "You're going to go through tough times - that's life. But I say, 'Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.' See the positive in negative events."