A pastor once said to me, God never intended for you to be a punching bag.

A counselor once said to me, You already know the truth and it is within you.

The times I have felt the lowest are when I have had nowhere to turn and nowhere to go. Those are the times when the only choice I had was to be on my knees in prayer. When times are tough and you have nowhere to turn but to the Lord, He does, I believe, speak through His Word the Bible.

I have usually received many encouraging words from friends or relatives through many of life's trials, but I think that being aware of God's presence in your life is paramount.

The best wisdom there is comes from God and I agree. Thank you, dgmichels for the truth! I really was going to put apart from the Lord who does speak when I gave the lead-in, but I believe your post has a more favorable tone.

Noted author John Maxwell provides leadership and mental fitness readings that promote a Christ way of life. His success is beyond words as all business employees and employers learn from his failures. These are a couple of Mr. Maxwell's sayings that I have embraced over the years (paraphased of course):

1. Attitude is determined by your Altitude

2. Failure does not mean you failed, it is a simple path to your next success. Always move forward with your failures. Learn and Live.

And Jesus Christ said it best (in my opinion) when his presented a parable to the quadraplegic. He ask the quadraplegic by the healing pool what he really wanted to achieve most in life (paraphrased). The quadraplegic said he wanted to walk home. Jesus Christ then told the quadraplegic to "Get Up! Pick Up Your Mat! And Go Home!)

I interpretated that to mean quit whining about your situations and do something about them. JC Did!

Anyway, these work for me. Thanks "Editor" for allow me the opportunity to contribute a little something to this thread. :)

Bailey, outstanding contributions that mold and shape! I know that we all who read the Word has found hidden treasure and passed it along as John Maxwell has done. I love this one too, although I wanted to avoid Bible quotes: Pro 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.

i have been blessed to have so many that i cannot at this moment remember a specific one. but many, so many. i'll be back.