So often, we look down the road of our lives through the prism of the past, projecting that past onto the unknown and unknowable future, somehow dirtying it. For some of us, all we need to empower the decision to take our foot off the brake of life is the inspiration of a powerful example, proof that it can be done, that someone as regular and normal as me with all my limitations, baggage, insecurities and emotional problems has done it before.

Why do we expect life to be obstacle free? In our imagined ideal world we don’t expect difficult situations to get in our way. We should be able to sail through life ‘s seas without any storms. Problems and obstacles only taunt other people. Who are we kidding? I’m here to reassure you that whatever obstacles life dares to dump in your way, you can deal with them.

Guest post: While it’s not possible to live a 100 percent stress-free life, you can help reduce some of the day-to-day stress you experience – leading to a happier, healthier you. It doesn’t necessarily take a major life overhaul. Just a few small changes can lead to a major overall impact. Click on in to see how!

The Olympic Games are thrilling and compelling because they embody human excellence. They remind us of tha value of determination, dedication, will and stamina, refusing to allow life to get in the way of living it at its highest, pushing for what seems impossible, reaching amazing levels of human capacity. The passion and drive, hard work, sacrifice and blood sweat and tears in every step, every jump and even in every stumble, inspires us.

Not everyone’s depression is exactly the same. The causes of it, the way it’s felt and experienced and those steps and ideas that will ultimately help to lift the cloud of depression will be in some combination different for each person struggling with that challenge. So what I’ve done is to write a sort of suicide note … in reverse. There are reasons to choose to live that may be enough to spark that same desire in someone else. My hope is that it does.

Guest Post by Stuart Mills of Unlock the Door: Ever felt like things were so bad you had no idea what to do? We’ve all been in situations where we worried that the very worst possible thing that could happen was going to happen, even when evidence suggested it wouldn’t. Sometimes these ‘worst-case scenarios’ actually take place. But more often than not, they appear in only one place – our minds.

Life has a way of hitting us upside the head at unexpected moments. Sometimes we stumble. Other times we fall and struggle to get back up again. Some people never do. Battered by circumstance, they become bitter and angry or depressed and despondent. An indescribable ache fills their hearts. A cloudy haze drapes their minds in indifference to anything but their own pain. Even their souls seem to become worn, ragged, ripped and broken. Others, however, seem to bounce back relatively quickly. There are reasons for that difference.

Pain is Life’s great master-teacher. It is the refiner’s fire, the heat that destroys the bacteria of life. It can burn off impurities, or it can consume and destroy. Our attitude, however, determines the outcome. But what do the trials and adversities of life teach us? What lessons are we to learn? What impurities does the heat of trial and tribulation burn off?

Have you ever felt sucker-punched by life? Have you felt like you were at your rope’s end? When we find ourselves buried under the weight of trial and despair, we are confronted with two mutually exclusive choices: 1) Lie down, and accept your fate, or 2) Scramble to your feet the best you can, stand as tall as you’re able, look your trial in the eyes and persevere. Come discover 5 ways you too can persevere in the face of your challenges and even become better for having endured.

Part II of How to Stay Happy on a Rainy Day. Is life raining down cold, bitter darkness? How can you find purpose in your trials? Change what you do, your thinking and your beliefs for greater peace.

So stand up! Go live life! You have the capacity for greatness. You can live an abundant life of deep, refreshing, and rewarding joy. You can overcome anything! You can become anything! You have divine potential! So go and realize it!

An ancient rendition of, “This too shall pass.” Trials endure for a time, then end and slowly fade into the fog of memory. The snow of winter, of cold, of disappointment and pain lasts only for a season.