The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.


"It's A Hardknock Life"

by Mitch Worley - Quill Editorial

June 25, 2008

Awkwardly enough, the title to this editorial and the editorial itself came to me while I was listening to Jay-Z spin his rendition of the catchy tune most would familiarize with Little Orphan Annie.

Even more awkward, it seems like my iPod has a mind of its own. It's sick how it scours your mind and randomly selects the perfect song to fit your mood or draw something out of you.

I don't have an awful lot to say this week in the wake of the decimation that has taken place all along the Mississippi River and everything else that has transpired over the past couple of weeks.

I'm drained in all facets conceivable in life from fulfilling my duties as a journalist/salesman for this paper, as well as trying to reconfiguring a fundraising strategy for the Youth Group I lead at the Methodist Church, as we ran in to some bad luck with our first fundraiser for our CIY trip next year.

The past couple of weeks have been pretty trying, but extremely beneficial in my maturation process.

Whether it was something I saw happening to other people with the flood or in dealings that directly affected me in a negative manner, I realized that hard times and challenges will constantly befall us all.

Having a positive attitude during rough patches in our lives not only alleviates the problem almost instantaneously, but also helps others suffering through the same tribulations that face us personally.

Seeing the despair on the faces of those whose homes were ravaged by the waters of the Mighty Mississippi was almost too much to stomach initially, but amazingly enough the resolve of the families quickly proliferated and it was comforting to see that they knew things were only going to get better as the tragedy was in the process of passing.

The perseverance displayed by the displaced families made me feel like a baby for moping around the past week and internally throwing a countywide pity party for myself.

Life can be hard and it can beat you to a pulp if you let it, but it doesn't always have to get the best of you.

As the old adage goes, "Someone's always got it worse than you do."