Why does life have to be so hard?

"Why does life have to be so hard?" The words following are what I wrote to a cousin when he asked this question...... I thought I would post it and elaborate a little more!!
***Life is a test! And from my experience tests aren't always easy.... sometimes we ace them, sometimes we do significantly well and sometimes we just plain fail! But it's our ability to rise above whatever may come our way that will make the difference! If life is hard and you allow it to break you down and you become miserable and unhappy, you have let it get the best of you! If you allow the hard times to build your character and become a better person because of them and live each day with gratitude, than you have succeeded far beyond human imagination!***
It's amazing how the words I wrote to someone else have become words that can bring comfort to me!!

I have always felt like life was too short to not make the best of things! I have known for years now that happiness is a choice, and each day I wake up it's my choice what kind of attitude I will face the day with! I pray that from this point on I will always choose the better option.... Happiness over misery.... Love instead of hate.... good over bad.... patience over frustration.... and each new day that I am blessed with, will never see the alternative defeat me... That I can rise above that which will try to bring me down, that in times of pain... heartache.... and anger I will always find the strength within me to reach for love and happiness! For it's in those times of deep anguish when we learn to lift our selves from that darkness waiting to envelope us... that our character becomes stronger, that our soul is left with no other option than to feel deeper, love longer, laugh louder and to bring harmony and inspiration to oneself and others!

If we can allow the storm to pass and find courage to break free from the things that will hold us back from becoming better, then we can wake up each day with a renewed sense of gratitude for the things which we have endured. We can also look forward to the things that lie ahead, knowing that whatever may come our way.... we will stand strong, rise above and make it to the end!

Here is a quote to end my thoughts for today........

"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God...and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven... (Orson F. Whitney)