Are you average or exceptional?

I read a book when I was younger and I don't have a clue what the name of that book was but there was a phrase that really stuck with me all these years and I always remember it when I am feeling like I've hit a road block. 

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"Often the struggles we try to avoid are the very struggles that build the foundation of who we become!"

Who you are now is because of all the challenges and adversity you had in the past. And who you will become in the future is due to all of the challenges and adversities you will encounter in the future. I used to spend my days trying to avoid challenges and complaining about all the bad things that happen to me. But Ive learned that these things make me who I am. 

As a child I had so many troubles with home life. I didn't have a solid family foundation being raised by a single mother and I was a victim of  physical, verbal and sexual abuse...something I have hidden for years. But I've learned that these things have made me who I am today.  I am a  mother of 3 daughters committed to ensuring they have all the things in life that I didn't. I am a loving wife devoted to my husband and the continued nurturing of our relationship. I am a successful business woman who has grit, empathy and passion. I could not have been any of these things without all of the adversities in my past life. So now, I embrace challenge. Of course it can be uncomfortable but that is how I know I am growing. The little butterflies in my stomach that make me feel like I want to throw up are what tell me I am on the right path and to keep going when most others would turn back and hide. 

I am not the same woman I was 5 years ago and I know I will be completely different in 5 years from now...that is what life is about. That is the beauty of morphing into who you can become and stepping into greatness. 

Stepping stones, challenges and adversity are not put in front of you to scare you away from your dreams and goals. They are placed there to separate the average from the exceptional. Nothing worth achieving was ever easy, and those who grasp and embrace this concept the fastest are the ones who will soar to the top!

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