A word of encouragement by Robert Rutherford

We are all faced with challenges. Loss.... Disease..... Death of loved ones....financial catastrophe.... Abuse..... Hurt..... Pain..... All of these things serve to strengthen us..... To make us better.....
To prepare us for the rest of the journey. In the middle of the trial... We must focus on the strength within... And, look to the finish line. We will make it. The challenge at hand is our friend. It will help us. Don't hate the pain.... Embrace it.

~ Robert Rutherford

Yes, we all face challenges in life, at different times and in varying degrees of hardship, and I also agree that these things serve to strengthen us - we will emerge not only better, but stronger and wiser. It reminds me of an athlete training for a marathon - each training exercise, each lap around the running track, serves to prepare us for the long journey ahead. As we progress further down the road, I believe we will be able to look back and marvel at how our past hurt and pain have bolstered us and given us the strength and endurance and wisdom that we have acquired which we would not have otherwise acquired without the initial hardship, and we will find ourselves coping or faring much better. Yes, embracing our pain and loss is the way to experience more freedom and peace in the long run.

Nowhere to go but the heart. - Rumi

Yes, we have nowhere to go except return to the heart. The only journey is our journey within. 

"The only journey is the journey within." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“Meditation increases your vitality and strengthens your intelligence; your beauty is enhanced; your mental clarity and health improve. You acquire the patience and fortitude to face any problem in life. So, meditate! Only through meditation will you find the treasure you are seeking.” — Mata Amritanandamayi ("Amma")

I agree with the quote on meditation too. Meditation is indeed beneficial for our mind, intellect and soul as it stabilises and refreshes us from within. I am learning to live and breathe mindfully whenever I remember to.

The more we meditate on our true divine identity, the more we are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, from beauty to beauty, from one level of brilliance to another level of brilliance. Our beauty is enhanced, our strength and wisdom is restored, and our youth is renewed like the eagle's, much like what the quote above says. As we wait upon the Lord and behold the beauty of our true self, we shall mount up with wings and soar like eagles, we shall run and not be weary, we shall walk and not faint, and we shall dance the divine dance to the rhythm of love.

I AM in the Now

There's a reason they call God a Presence - because God is right here, right now. In the present is the only place to find Him, and NOW is the only time. 

~ from "Eat Pray Love" book

Yes, God's presence is in the present for I Am is in the present and His words are always pleasant.

Proverbs 16 says "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to
the bones."

Another verse came to mind: "Behold, now is the day of salvation, now is the time of favour."

Every moment is the now, and every moment is the time to experience salvation (freedom from religious lies that bring guilt and condemnation) and now is the time to receive favour because we have been reconciled to God knowing we are made in His image and we are one with Him.

We can enjoy the kingdom of God within us - righteousness, innocence, peace and joy in the present moment. Yes, no challenge is too great for us, for His grace IS sufficient for us, and His strength IS made perfect in our weakness. We can rest in His goodness and grace, for whom He calls, He also equips. Heaven is our present reality, right here, right now.