Our tolerating ability is indeed way beyond our imagination. But not until the very critical moment will we realize our potential tolerating ability.

 

There was a woman in the countryside who got married at the age of 18 and had to escape with her two daughters and a son wherever she could at the age of 26 due to the Japanese army's invasion. Many people in the village at that time could not bear the suffering of being a fugitive¹ and wanted to commit suicide. After she knew about it, she would come to those people and soothed²（安慰） them by saying, "Don't do that silly thing. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome. The Japanese armies are bound to be foiled one day!"

 

Finally she insisted until the day when all the Japanese armies were kicked out of China. Nonetheless, her son died of disease without sufficient medicine and nutrition in those days of hardships. Her husband, after knowing the death of his son, lay in bed for two days without eating and drinking anything. She teared to her husband and said, "We have a tough destiny, but however tough our lives will be, we should also persist. Though our son has passed away, we can have another. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome."

 

After giving birth to the second son, her husband died of edema（水肿）, which almost blew her away. But eventually, she recovered and cuddled（拥抱，依偎） the three young children, saying, "My sweet hearts, don't feel scared. You still have me, your dear mum!"

 

It took her painstaking³ efforts to raise her children up and the life of her family was getting better and better. Two daughters were married and so was his son finally. She said to everyone she met, "Look! What I said is absolutely right. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome! My life is so happy now!" She was aging gradually and could not do the farm work any more. So she stayed at home and did some stitching（缝合） work.

 

Nevertheless, the Heaven seemed to show no affection to her who had undergone a rough life. She got her leg broken accidentally when she was nursing her grandson. Due to her old age that posed a great risk to her operation, she did not receive operation and had to lie in bed all day long. Her children all cried heavily, while she merely said, "Why do you cry? I am still living."

 

Even though she could not rise from bed, she did not complain about anything and anybody. Instead, she sat on the bed and did some stitching work. She had learnt scarves-weaving, broidery（刺绣）, crafts-making, etc. All her neighbors spoke⁴ highly of her skills and came to learn from her.

   

She lived until 86. Before she went to Heaven, she said to her children, "You all should live to your best. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome!"

    

We will only get to realize our own iron will and strong tolerating ability after getting stricken heavily. Therefore, no matter what you are suffering from now, do not merely complain about the unfairness of our destiny and maintain low-spirited all the time. There are no such setbacks that we could not  overcome. Only those who have no confidence and courage to overcome setbacks will be defeated at last!

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