I throw down manna from Heaven. I toss jewels down for you. I tossed you, who are another kind of jewel of incomprehensible value, down to earth as well. Of course, you realize there is no up nor down because space does not really exist. I could just as well have said that I tossed you up to Earth.

Of course, I did not throw you. I placed you. I placed you carefully. I weighed all considerations. Of course, I didn't weigh. I just knew where you would grow best. Even if you would not agree, I chose the exact right spot for you. And I never let go of your hand. I never have, and I never will.

What you consider ideal is not always ideal. What you consider terrible often bears good fruit. Whether you grew up in an orchard or in a desert, your environment nourished you or you wrested nourishment from it. Even the unwanted things in your life led you to where you are now.

Even if you are in what you consider a terrible place right now, there is something advantageous for you. I do not say that you have to suffer in order to find the beautiful. I do not say that you have to suffer at all. I say that, if you find yourself in a debilitating environment, there is something good for you there. Keep your eyes open.

You need not suffer to grow character, and yet good character can come out of the mire.

Wherever you are, there are skills you are learning and learning well. Indeed, there is something very good where you find yourself. Maybe you know that, or maybe you don't, but the prize is there nevertheless. Reach in for it.

Children who have no toys turn a rag or a stone into a toy. What an opportunity toyless children have to enrich their imagination! In this light, how unfortunate the child who has a new toy every week. How underprivileged are the privileged! How privileged are the underprivileged! How privileged are they both! Have you needed to change your thinking?

If you grew up with many brothers and sisters, that is wonderful. If you grew up as a sole child, that is also wonderful. If your parents died when you were young, that is sad, yet even that holds something good for you. If your parents are very old now and you are the one who takes care of them, that is also a blessing. You can look at everything in life this way or that. Everything in the relative world has its merits and demerits. Everything.

Doesn't it make sense to look at life in a new light rather than insist on an unhappy perception?

Life is not solely lessons, yet you learn much in life. And you often learn the hard way. Learn easily, and then you won't dwell so much on what you would have preferred not to have. Then you won't have to dwell on what is not advantageous. Once again, I suggest you look upward.