Tested

"no good deed goes unpunished..."

if you're ever tried to help someone or tried to find your way out of a difficult situation, you may have experienced this.  it seems like the more you try to be a good person, the more things seem to go wrong for you.  whether you believe in a higher power or not, whether you believe in karma or not, whether you believe in coincidence or not, there are times when everything that can or will go wrong does.  that doesn't mean, however, that you stop being the person you know you are and give in to despair or cease to do the things you know to be good or right.  it is in times such as these, that you cling even stronger to your morals.  that you believe even more in your higher power.  that you search even deeper within yourself and find the resolve to see the good works you began through to the end.  it will not be easy.  you may not have help.  you may not even be acknowledged for your efforts . . . 

but, you do it anyway.

in the end, you will be a stronger person.  more resolute and determined to make a difference in the lives of others.  more faith-filled and faithful.  the things that happen to us may or may not have been the result of something we did.  for every action there is an equal reaction, but the key is to be proactive instead of reactive.  we need to realize that we have been and will be tested so we can have a testimony.  so we can share our experiences of how we strengthened ourselves in order to offer strength to others.  we go through the fire to show ourselves approved, to be cleansed and purified.  refined.  you may feel like a piece of coal now, but remember that when pressure is applied to coal, it creates a diamond.

be prepared to watch me sparkle and shine . . .