Life is full jammed packed full of challenges – in fact it probably would get pretty boring if every day were just perfect.  One thing I have found to be an absolute truth in this world is that the true measure of a person is not the measured by the amount of money they have in the bank or by the car they drive or even how many times they appear in the celebrity collum of the national magazines.  

The true wealth of a person is their ability to get back up and fight again, even when they have been hit hard by the forces which would cut you deep to the depths of your soul trying to get you to give up, shut down your light, stop trying to help others, and worst of all trying to stop you being who you are and stop you from standing tall, shining a guiding light for the world to cling to in troubled times.   

I have to admit that in the last few years I seem to find myself often saying, “One day we will laugh about this!”  You see its not my nature to give up, or give in, I may take a blow to the soft side of my underbelly and roll around screaming for a minute or two, but the one thing that makes me different from most people is this - I wont give up and I wont give in, I will not stop being myself no matter who or what challenges me.  One of my closest friends says my theme song should be, “I get knocked down and I get up again, aint nothing going to keep me down,”  You see I am a trusting soul, always looking for the good in people, always willing to welcome people into my heart and life, now some people would say that is stupid!  But no not me, I may be a little naïve but hey – what’s wrong with that?  

The world is full of people just like me, good people who get abused and used and hurt by unscrupulous people, the sad thing is that most of these people who are good people just like you, get hurt so bad that they eventually become disillusioned and  so badly damaged by life that they just plain give up.  You see bad things do happen to good people, all the time.  Why, well it happens because we have integrity and sadly 90% of the world doesn’t, it happens because we care, and 90% of the world doesn’t give a dam about anything other than their own emotional needs and their own personal greed and the need to control.  Yes the world is full of crap and crappy people as well. So you have a choice, when life hits you hard in the solar plexus what can you do?  Well I will tell you what you can do, you can take a honest look at how you played your part in allowing that to happen to you, and you can own it, then you can ask yourself the most important question of your life – “What did I learn from that experience?”  Did you learn to listen to your gut feeling? Did you learn that you are vulnerable and lonely and willing to compromise your own needs to secure a relationship?  Did you learn to ask more questions and stand by what you wanted as an outcome?  What did you learn?  No matter what happens in life there is no point blaming anyone else for your experience, no one can do anything to you without you playing a part in that experience.  Every moment of the day, you have choices, you have instincts trying to guide you, you have your integrity to steer you safely through the journey.  

Life is all about learning about ourselves, about what our weakness are, about where we need to grow in understanding and strength.  Do you know no matter how enlightened you become there are still things to learn and it would seem that the universe knows no boundaries, it just keeps tipping the crap on you no matter how good a person you are, no matter how honest, no matter how caring.    

If life has hit you hard my friend, take heart – getup and try again, don’t give up, did you know that the most incredible people I know all are just like me, yes, we are good honest, trusting, compassionate human beings, and yes we get knocked down a lot – but we also get back up and have another go… Don’t let one bad apple spoil your life!  And yes I am still shaking my head at my own naivety and laughing at the whole experience - but have another go------ the sweetest revenge - A SUCCESSFUL LIFE!