“when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

We've all heard the saying that "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." And the truth is, sometimes the best way to get through a trial is simply to keep going. Choosing not to become emotionally or spiritually stuck actually helps us summon the strength we need to move forward with life.

No one knows this better than pioneers who blaze new trails. Whether making their way across fields of discovery, over rocky ridges of prejudice, or through mountains of misunderstanding, pioneers make better trails for those who follow by forging ahead, even when the way seems impossible. Today we recognize such pioneers who have made our world a better place.

More than 150 years ago, a band of brave pioneers walked more than 1,000 miles to find a place of peace in the Rocky Mountains. Faith was the fuel that drove the covered wagons and the handcarts across a barren landscape. Remarkable are the stories of their courage and unflagging determination as they toiled across the seemingly endless western prairie. 

Agnes Caldwell, only nine years of age at the time, never forgot how it felt to walk so far. Later in life she recounted: "I can yet close my eyes and see everything in panoramic precision before me—the ceaseless walking, walking, ever to remain in my memory." The strength she gained at a young age from enduring to the trail's end served her well for the rest of her long life.

When life gives us our own trails to blaze, when the going gets tough, we can draw strength from those pioneers and so many others who chose to keep going. Chances are that we'll find we are stronger than we may think, and we'll keep going too.

Lloyd D. Newell