Recently I bought an ottoman from overstock.com.  It wasn't too big and didn't eat up the whole room, leaving no space for Jason.  It was made of leather so it's easy-to-clean with no sharp corners for the Cole-meister.  And it had the storage area I was looking for.  But the best feature was the price - 60% off of what I would have paid in the store.Now, the thing with overstock purchases is that you have to be a little careful about quality.  If you are willing to overlook a mistake or two then you can often find a great deal.  Scratches, dents, missing buttons, a stain here and there all come with the territory when hunting for discount items because that is why you are getting them for a bargain - they aren't worth as much in our eyes once they have been damaged.But when it comes to people, I believe the opposite is true.  As Jason and I have gone through our challenges over the years our spirits have received their fair share of bumps and bruises, scratches and dents.  But with each tumble comes a refining process that removes a sharp edge here and a hard corner there until we are molded and sculpted into something more capable, more understanding and ultimately more beautiful than we were before.  Instead of losing our personal value, overcoming the hard knocks of life actually enhances who we are and develops in us a sense of greater individual worth.

Do I excitedly embrace adversity because I know what it will help me to be?  Not usually.  But I certainly wouldn't change the person I have become because of it - a few scratches, a dent here and there, but stronger and more of who I am meant to be.