Just Like the Dinosaurs, This Too Shall Pass

A good friend of mine once asked me how I did it.

He watched as I was going through one bad thing after another, and he couldn't figure out how I kept moving on.

Because I don't have a choice.

When I went off to college, grossly under prepared for the academic rigors of Grinnell, my dad pulled me aside as they were getting ready to send me off into adulthood.

He reached out his closed fist and said "Here, take this."

As I opened my palm, he dropped a small rubber dinosaur into it.

"What's this?"

My dad then gave me one of the best pieces of advice I've ever received.

"When I went off to college, my dad gave me a toy dinosaur, too," he explained. "He told me I was about to embark on a path that would include tough obstacles and no map to navigate through it.

"And he wanted me to know that when I was in the middle of facing those obstacles, to remember that just like the dinosaurs, this too shall pass."

I don't know if I ever properly thanked my dad for those words of wisdom.

But I can tell you that I still have that dinosaur. And someday I plan to give it to my sons as they venture down the broken road of life.

This too shall pass.