You were born and raised with a certain set of expectations. As you grow and become more independent and meet the realities of daily life, these expectations often fail you. The “American Dream” (every culture has its own dream), that we hope to make real by having a family, a house in the suburbs, a good job, etc., may not come about as we expected. The knight in shining armor might turn out to be someone with warts. You cannot allow failed expectations to shatter your dreams or make you disappointed with your life. The reality is that life consists of the good and the bad, the joys and anxieties. To fail to understand this, only robs you of the ability to enjoy life. You must look at the failures, the bad times, as moments of growth. When you go through “heat treat”, it makes you stronger. Heat Treatment is the controlled heating and cooling of metals to alter their physical and chemical properties without changing the product shape. Heat treatment is a manufacturing process that either heat or cool the metal such as welding or forming. Heat Treatment is often associated with increasing the strength of the material. As the chemical composition of the material changes, it hardens to withstand enormous stress. The heat treat process must be successful or the item will destruct. I believe that “heat treat” is applicable to our lives. The trials and tribulations that you encounter are the means by which you become stronger, or you self-destruct.

If we let failures take away our vitality, then we are the only ones who suffer. To every front, there is a back; to every night, there is a dawn; and to every rain shower there is the sun. This is how our time and space forms shape. To deny this reality is to live in a state of confusion — expecting the worst will only guarantee the worst! The greatest joys of life come about through the watering of tears. The birth of a child comes about through labor. Without labor, there can be no new life. This is the way it is. The mystery of life propels us towards new possibilities and new opportunities. To refute these realities is to lose out on the joys of existence.