13 Quotes To Give You Strength In Hard Times

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Hard Times

I know what it’s like to feel abandoned.

And afraid.

And frustrated.

I’ve experienced trauma that yielded great suffering, made me question my own judgment, and required years of therapy to recover from.

I’ve experienced sadness, depression, hunger, homelessness, and desperation.

I’ve had to work three jobs to try and make ends meet.

I’ve coasted to work on gas fumes and rolled pennies to buy a gallon of milk.

I earned three college degrees as a single parent and I battled physical and mental exhaustion and thoughts of self-doubt.

There were months I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep the electricity on.

There were a few days when the electricity wasn’t on.

When well-meaning people told me that things could only get better, little did they know that things could get worse too.

When people told me to hang in there, I wanted to punch them in the face and say, “I’ve been hanging in there but I’m tired and could use some help.”

But I kept the words to myself.

Now

Now when I see someone struggling, I don’t tell them to hang in there. I ask them, “what can I do to help you?”

A hot meal?

A tank of gas?

Someone to listen?

If you’re currently in a season of hard times and adversity and you’re worn down, please listen closely.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help and don’t be shy in accepting help.

Those moments of reprieve will help you make it through the next day or the next week.

Cause I’m here to tell you, this too shall pass. You will not be in the valley of despair forever.

You will not be in the valley of hardship forever.

You will not be in the fields of sorrow forever. A change will come and you’ll savor it because of your hardships.

You’ll look back and wonder how you made it through.

Then one day, you will realize that you’re no longer looking back at all.

I hope you find some inspiration and strength in these quotes I’ve chosen. I’m rooting for you.

13 Quotes To Give You Strength During Hard Times

“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” –Rumi

2. “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” –Elizabeth Kubler Ross”

3. “The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.” –Robert Jordan

4. “Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
― Marcus Aurelius

5. “I think that we are like stars. Something happens to burst us open; but when we burst open and think we are dying; we’re actually turning into a supernova. And then when we look at ourselves again, we see that we’re suddenly more beautiful than we ever were before!” ― C. JoyBell C.

6. “The phoenix must burn to emerge.” ― Janet Fitch, White Oleander

7. “Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

8. “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” ― haruki murakami

9. “Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible…it’s yours.” ― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

10. “From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

11. “No stars gleam as brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky. No water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand. And no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs through adversity. Tested faith brings experience. You would never have believed your own weakness had you not needed to pass through trials. And you would never have known God’s strength had His strength not been needed to carry you through.”
― Charles H. Spurgeon

12. “Don’t try to make life a mathematics problem with yourself in the center and everything coming out equal. When you’re good, bad things can still happen. And if you’re bad, you can still be lucky.” ― Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible