Times definitely fly. Before we know it, Christmas is nearly upon us. One really wonders how the rest of the year just flew by so quickly. 

Today, we are saying goodbye to one more week. It has been an eventful one for some of us, painful for others.

 But as we take a breather this weekend from work, school, studies and other duties, we find that no matter how tough life  becomes, we have to keep on keeping on. Indeed, despite the headaches and heartaches of yesterday, we have to accept that this journey is about taking one step forward at a time, bit by bit.

The pain and sorrows will eventually disappear. Just as the joys and victories of yesterday will not be able to sustain us forever.

So we go about our daily lives making the best out of every minute, by laughing and at times crying our doubts, regrets and sorrows away. 

We need to. It’s healthy for us.

The truth is that yesterday is gone and today is a gift. No one knows what’s going to happen at this very moment tomorrow so we should make an effort to make the most of every opportunity we get to enjoy life with the people who matter – whoever they are.

Look, life is full of problems. That’s a given. But it’s also full of blessings and that much is undeniable.

So it’s really up to us to choose how we want to see the world. 

Do we want to focus on the problems and magnify their existence? Or do we want to enjoy the blessings and let the problems take care of themselves?

For the past few weeks, I’ve been really enjoying the stories in the Village Voice. We encourage you to take time to read through them. Some of them are just awfully inspiring. They are stories of ordinary villagers doing the best they can with whatever gifts and talents they have. 

They range from simple chores like cooking food, selling green coconuts or doing the hard work at the plantation to feed the family. A lot of the people featured so far are so passionate about what they do regardless of what it is that it’s hard not to get inspired by it.

It tells us that life is what we really make it to be.

For every blessing; there are bound to be problems. The reality is that problems always come before the blessings. Which means we must endure the problems first before we can enjoy the blessings.

The key though is to develop endurance. How? Well, there is only one way. We need to be patient and develop an innate ability to enjoy the tough times.

Yes it sounds difficult but we know developing endurance is a bit like exercising muscles. The more you push them to the limit, the stronger they become so that when the going gets tough, it’s that x factor in each and every one of us that gets us through.

It’s what gets us out of bed every morning when we don’t feel like it. It’s what pushes us to work when we are tired and don’t want to. It’s what makes us accept people when we can’t stand to look at them. It’s what motivates us to love and forgive when all we feel is hate and anger.

And let’s not forget that someone else always has it worse than us. Yes, if you think you’ve got problems, spare a thought for the person next to you.

Each and every one of us has been created and graced differently to deal with problems. Some are better equipped than others and that’s just the way it is.

Besides, as a Christian nation, we serve an almighty God who answers our prayers. We believe He does. How many times have we heard the excited exclamation: “Thank God! He’s answered my prayers!”

In this country, we believe in a God who is there waiting with an open ear for our prayers. He might not answer right away – or in a way that we would have liked – but He will. You’ve just got to trust Him that He knows what’s going on.

Remember: “Seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given, knock and the door shall be opened.”

Indeed, we must never stop praying. It goes without saying that prayers are the spiritual link between man and his God. They are the stuff that gives us that extra strength to keep going when we feel that we simply cannot.

Today, as we look around us in countries near and far, all we see are wars, strife, depression and destruction. 

So you think we’ve got problems? Think again. Problems will always be  problems. But it’s also about perspective. What one might regard as a molehill could be a mountain in the eyes of another person. What someone might see as a problem could be a blessing to others.

So think of those people featured in the Village Voice again and how they seem to revel in their struggles to get by. Everyday. That tells us an awful lot about the resolve of our people. We are a resilient lot.  We might not have a lot but we sure know how to rejoice in suffering and pain.

Indeed life is what we make of it.  

Now who is the genius who coined the saying that when life throws you lemons, make lemonade. And enjoy it too.

Have a restful weekend Samoa, God bless!