You can count on certain people. You can count on them when the path is smooth and easy. And you can count on them when the path is rough and the going is tough. 

You can count on certain people to soldier on. 

Despite their quirks - despite their weaknesses - regardless of their 'style', you can count on certain people to soldier on when the going gets tough. 

It is interesting to observe these people in action. What special characteristics do they possess that drives them to press on while others falter and stall and shrink away and lay down and quit? 

And observe yourself.

How do you stack up?

Do you pull up your bootstraps when the going gets tough? Do you lift others up, place them on your shoulders, and carry them through the difficult times?

Richard Carlson taught, 'don't sweat the small stuff' and 'it's all small stuff'. 

I'm thinking I should sidestep that sort of thinking as long as possible. Instead, I should get myself charged up about the tough things - life's challenges - the endless string of challenges that lie in wait for me just beyond all the inevitable road-forks in my future. I'm thinking I must always be prepared to choose to not falter, not stall, not shrink away, not lay down, and I must never quit. 

There - I feel much better - all the annoying and troubling things I've been fretting about have been shaken off and are now officially forgotten-history.