A boy visited his lumberjack uncle on the job. He was immediately impressed by a huge tree standing alone on a hill. The boy in awe exclaimed lets cut that huge tree, we will get alot of good wood from that one. The uncle replied, no son good lumber comes from trees in groves. Standing alone a tree has many limbs. All of the limbs grow when the tree is milled it leaves many many knots. In lumber a knot is very tough to cut or nail though. But it is also the weakest spot in a rafter when a load is placed on the timber. If we are selfish and only care about ourselves, and do not fill our lives with service and friendship we may look ok on the outside but on the inside we miss out on our true potential. We are the same we grow better together than we do alone. Strength grows in numbers

One advantage of living many years is you can remember the good times when the bad ones are weighing down. Adversity with the right attitude forges self confidence,self respect, & character adversity can help us purge and purify our lives of things that really don't matter. Prioritize your life in this order and you will win the battle. 1 God, 2 Family, 3 Church, 4 Worldly obligations