Institutions tend to be strongest when they make significant moral demands and weaker when they preemptively accommodate themselves to human nature.

--Ross Douthat, New York Times

There is a way that seems right unto man but the end thereof are the ways of death.

--Proverbs 16:25

The way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walketh to direct his steps.

What's gone wrong in the morning cannot come right in the evening.

--Jamaican Proverb

There is a profound fundamental decision confronting every man, woman, boy or girl at the onset of every career, pursuit or endeavor. Where do I go from here?

Do I take the high road or low road?

The road of light or the road of darkness?

The road of healing or the road of pain?

The road of life or the road of death?

The road of joy or the road of sorrow?

The road of hope or the road of despair?

Because man is an independent moral creature

Because no man can ride your back unless you let him

Because circumstances, upbringing, culture and background must not and should not influence you

Because as a child of the universe you have the right to be here

Because you have been given the power to choose by your Creator

Because you have been endowed by your creator with certain inalienable rights

Because your life is not a mistake or an error in judgment

You and you alone must decide the path and destiny of your existence. The difference between heaven and hell rests upon your decision. Yes, people, places and things may be difficult. Times may be tough but remind yourself: tough times never last, tough people do.

The Bible says it came to pass, not to stay. You may never control people circumstances or conditions. However, you can always control your reaction or attitude to them. Ponder often the nobler thoughts of love, justice, mercy, goodness and hope.

Create good habits and cultivate them. Learn to be content. Give and forgive. Forget the past. Concentrate on the present and contemplate the future.

Nelson Mandela, in the cauldron of apartheid called South Africa, implores "if you do not forgive an oppressor, you will never be able to negotiate with him or anyone in a fair and equitable manner."

Desmond Tutu, his fellow sufferer pleads, "without forgiveness, there is no future." 

Martin Luther King shouted, "I have a dream that one day the sons of slaves and the sons of former slave owners will sit down at the table of brotherhood and declare in the words of the old negro spiritual free at last, thank God Almighty we're free at last.

St. Francis of Assisi prayed, "Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

And when you are tired, weary, at the point of giving up or giving in, complaining the day is too short or too long, remember you have been given the same 24 hours as Moses, Joshua, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Billy Graham, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Sidney Poitier, Oprah Winfrey, William Wilberforce or Abraham Lincoln.

It all comes down to a simple basic premise of sowing and reaping.

Sow a good thought.

Reap a good deed.

Sow a good deed.

Reap a good habit.

Sow a good habit

Reap a good life

Sow a good life.

Reap a good end.

You have one life to live. This is your only shot. It's once around the merry go round. This is not a dress rehearsal because you shall not pass this way again.

Per Vince Lombardi, the renowned football coach: "During your time here, winning is not a once in a while or sometime thing, winning is the only thing."

Yes, to be honest and real we might lose more than a few battles in the trenches of life. But make sure you win the war. Never ever leave the field of the game called life second best.