Summary: <p>Listen to episode 134 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Overcoming Disabilities: Inspirational Stories. Adapted from the book “A Cheerful Philosophy for Thoughtful Invalids” by William Horatio Clarke.</p><br> <p><strong>Motivational Podcast Excerpt</strong>: <em>As the bruising of fragrant flowers causes them to give forth a more ethereal aroma, so in our own lives, the good qualities may be brought forth by means of the afflictions which seem to press the life out of us. The corn is ground to obtain the meal, and the wheat for the flour. The maple-tree is tapped for its sap, and the sugar-cane is crushed for its syrup and saccharine crystals. The quartz is pulverized for the gold and silver, while the ore is purified by fire. </em></p><br> <p><em>Through such processes is the immortal nature in which our real individuality resides often developed and made useful, and it is thus saved from the changes connected to the disorganization of the physical body; for we exist as individuals, independent of the apparently adverse conditions of the earthly frame. </em></p><br> <p><em>The object for which we were created is the development and attainment of a true character in which every virtue shall prevail; and such a character must be ours, notwithstanding our frail physical constitutions. The virtues are developed through trials and temptations. Honesty is proved by not yielding to fraud, deceit, and dishonesty. Purity is developed through the combat when immoral temptations are resisted, and patience is attained through the long endurance of suffering. </em></p><br> <p><em>To those of us who are confined to the boundaries of our rooms, so familiar with every crack in the ceiling overhead and weary of forming faces and new patterns from the outlines of the figured wall-paper, it is impossible to realize that we are journeying through space on a revolving earth at the rate of nearly seventy thousand miles an hour. Yet we are travelling onward daily and yearly toward the object for which we were created, which, through every hindrance, will certainly be accomplished, as surely as the earth revolves on its axis through its orbit, bringing the annual New Year — notwithstanding the many mistakes which we have made.</em></p><br> <p><strong>Related Motivational Podcasts:</strong></p><br> <p><a title="Orison Swett Marden" href="http://podcast.livinghour.org/e/overcoming-fear-anxiety-worry-orison-swett-marden/">Overcoming Fear, Anxiety & Worry</a></p><br> <p><a title="Being Free From Anxiety" href="http://podcast.livinghour.org/e/how-to-stay-calm-and-motivated/">How to Stay Calm & Motivated</a></p>
