Piecing is almost harder than before...

[Firstlove]

Harrier

These guys are giving you good advice man - do NOT GIVE UP - that is the only path to failure, giving up. In the famous words of Winston Churchill

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE UP.

That man knew something of perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds and adversity. This is a BATTLE man, there is a fight to be won here and the only one who wins the fight is the one who refuses to quit. What do you do when you are in a fight and you keep pounding the other guy, knocking him down flat on his face with the wind knocked out of him, and he just keeps getting back up, taking the hits again and again and again. You stand there POUNDING him as HARD AS YOU CAN, and the guy just keeps getting back up and coming back for more, no matter how HARD you hit him - he just refuses to quit. After a while you get tired of hitting this guy and you realize that no matter how bloodied he is, no matter how many teeth you have knocked out of his mouth or how many bones you have broken - the guy will not stay down and give up. Eventually your hand is going to get very sore hitting him and it finally becomes clear to you - THIS GUY is a warrior and no matter what I do to him, he is NOT quitting.

What do you think of this guy who you have literally beat to a pulp over and over and over again, and he won't quit. You start to admire this SOB, you may not like him and that is at the foundation of why you were fighting, but dammmmmm he is one tough SOB and he will not give up, no matter what I do to him to make him quit. What do YOU start thinking about him - you think - ok this guy has something in him that I cannot beat out of him - its called perseverance and tenacity - he will NOT QUIT. Pretty soon, this guy who you have been beating on earns a different place in your mind and your heart.

Harrier - YOU can choose to be THAT GUY - who will not quit, no matter what. Be that MAN - in fact MAN UP - stand up and FIGHT. Nobody said this was going to be easy, not one of us on here has it easy and solutions are not instant - this takes TIME and it takes perseverance and fighting thru the pain. I know something about both physical pain and emotional pain, I have had my fill of both in my life thank you very much. Here is a TRUE story about me.

I have a black belt in Taekwondo - the Korean martial art. I was a bouncer in Hell's Angel motorcycle bars, so believe me when I tell you this, I know something about fighting and making guys quit either in the face of fear or reeling from pain - I know how to inflict physical pain - or at least I did 35 years ago - now I am just all talk. But 35 years ago, I was THE bouncer in the bar. I became a black belt and was trained by a 6th degree black belt Korean. This guy was the trainer for the Korean Army and he taught hand to hand combat to the soldiers. Know what one criteria to GET INTO the Korean Army is - you have to be a BLACK BELT to get in -that is a basic qualification. So when you have the instructor teaching you about pain - believe me - I know pain. Here is one lesson he walked us thru. He would line the students up against the wall and have us stand there and let him hit us - hard. As hard as he could - no - if he hit us as hard as he could - we would have been dead. But let me tell you, when a 6th degree black belt hits you hard - THAT is pain. BOOM we would be on the floor with our stomachs in FLAMES from pain. There I am lying on the floor in front of him puking my guts out. Know what he did - he stood over me and said - GET UP. I would crawl on my knees, grab all the strength I did not have and stood there in front of him. He would just look at me and say - I am going to hit you again. BOOM !!!!!!! this anvil of a fist going about a billion miles an hour slams into my stomach flying me backwards against the wall - me collapsing in a pile of my own puke on the floor. He walks over to me, stands in front of me looking DOWN, and says - GET UP. Over and over and over again this happens. Finally I know that I am like 2 seconds from DEATH I am in so much pain and I CANNOT get up one more time, I just cannot. I am done, finished, the pain is too much and I cannot even move let alone stand up. He walks over to me and says - GET UP. I cry out - I cannot get up - I can't - I just can't please stop - I am trying to tell you I CANNOT GET UP ONE MORE TIME !!!!!! Why WHY WHY do you keep hitting me so hard I ask, lying on the floor , I cannot get up. He looks DOWN at me and says this "I know you cannot get up - Black Belts get up - when they can't" Now - GET UP

I got up when I could not - and I got my black belt. Life is like that pal - its a BATTLE - I know you cannot get up one more time, the pain is just too much, believe me, I know. Here is a quote I saw this morning as a matter of fact, it speaks to what is going on in your life, and in mine right now.

I will send later