One thing is certain about life – it never stops. It can come at you fast with moments of joy being eclipsed by times of intense sorrow. One day you can be on the mountaintop and the next in the darkest valley. It won’t matter how well you eat, how much rest you get or how much money you have in the bank – life will throw things at you for which you won’t be ready.

Unfortunately, when times are rough, there will not always be someone there to help. In fact, there may even be those who don’t care about your plight. In most cases, your employer cares little about your child’s illness or your financial difficulties. They only care that you make your shift on time. Your co-workers probably are more concerned about you doing your work so they don’t have to. Even the closest of friends may not be able to help because they may be going through their own personal hell.

So what can you do? When it appears life’s storm is too much to survive, what then? Much like a person adrift at sea, you have to keep fighting. If the person lost in the ocean doesn’t battle for survival, there is a very good chance he or she will die unless someone is lucky enough to find them. When we feel life has given us more than we can handle, we need to keep on keeping on. We have to wake up each morning, get out of bed and keep fighting. We have to take care of ourselves when no one else can.

It’s far too easy when times are tough to pack up your tent and surrender. It seems the best course of action when we are down is to curl up in the fetal position and hide. But here’s the thing, even when you do that life doesn’t stop. It is going to keep coming at you in waves – some good, some bad. No matter how much you try to avoid life you can’t. You can’t sit around waiting for the good times and not expect there to be bad. You have to keep living life no matter the circumstances.

So if today things in life are not as you would like, look in the mirror and tell yourself these two simple words – keep fighting! Keep living life no matter the situation. Strive to be a better person today than you were yesterday. Yes, seek help from those who can help you. Yes, pray to the one who is always there to assist in our times of need and times of joy. But never give up on yourself. Never give up fighting. Never give up living life. You only go around once, so keep fighting to make it the best life you can.

The old saying is patience is a virtue. I prefer to think of patience as a test that I flunk each and every day. Not a day goes by where something or someone doesn’t cause me to lose my patience. And then I am constantly reminded that is one more “test” I have failed. I mean, come on – minute rice takes 45 seconds too long to make. I shave my head because I don’t have the patience to comb my hair. Seriously!

I have no idea why I am patience deficient. I guess I have been for as long as I can remember, but I am not patient enough to think about it for long. Traffic. Lines at the grocery store. Poor Wi-Fi connection. People who would rather talk than work. On and on I can list the things that try my patience. In fact, I could probably spend countless days making a list if I was just patient enough to sit and do it.

I am not even patient enough to enjoy a good meal. I eat so fast one would think that I had never seen food before. And don’t even ask me to sit in your lobby waiting for an hour to eat so I can be done in less than 10 minutes – not going to happen. That kind of commitment to a meal takes patience, and I ain’t got it.

And don’t even get me started with being patient with those who call themselves leaders. Whether it’s in the workplace or the government, I have zero time for those who can talk the talk but can’t walk the walk. Talk about a serious patience explosion. I have no time for those windbags at all. My patience wears extra thin with those who can’t do anything more than talk a big game.

OK, yes, I know I need to be more patient. Yes, I must be more patient with those around me who can’t live up to my unrealistic expectations. But please don’t ask me to pray for patience. The one thing I have learned through the years is that is a bad idea. If I pray for patience, I am going to face even more tests of my nonexistent patience. And that really tries my patience. And, no, I am not going to make it my New Year’s resolution.

I think I need to wrap this up now because I am not patient enough to keep trying to tell you about how I don’t have any patience. Hopefully you had enough patience to make it through this. As for me, I guess I will have to hope one day I find the time to be patient enough to look for patience. Come on light turn green already!!