Some people like to wonder
Why is my life so tough?
Mortality is full of trials
and every day is rough.
They say, "Hey Lord, I'm bein' good.
Why punish me with trials?
I thought that if I chose the right
I'd have a life of smiles."
So here's some things within a poem
We mustn't disregard.
Which hopefully will answer
why our lives can be so hard.
Nephi crossed a desert
to find a place to build a ship.
I think we'd all agree
this was not a pleasure trip.
A wilderness dark and dreary
lay before the tree of life.
You must fetch Ishmael's family
before you find your wife.
A wilderness will always come
before the Promised Land.
And before they sowed in dark rich soil,
They saw a lot of sand.
The kind of things that they went through
we go through now today.
Here's 25 examples
of how things can be that way:
You've got to eat your Cracker Jack's
before you get your prize.
You have to sit through the drive-through
before you get your fries.
I drove a Chevy Vega
before my Honda Prelude.
I had to take my finals, man,
before I got my grade, dude.
Before the 80's music came
we had to go through disco.
Before the Teflon frying pan
we used to cook with Crisco.
You do a lot of dating son
before you find your honey.
Bank officers will check your past
before they loan you money.
Endure the small apartment kids
before you buy a home.
My Franklin planner weighed a ton
before I bought a palm.
You have to pass the food court
before you reach the mall,
And I was really, really short
before I got this tall.
It takes a lot of courage boys
to ask the girls to dance.
Without the risk of asking though,
you'll never find romance.
The ugly duckling came before
the really pretty swan.
You've got to pull the dandelions
to have a gorgeous lawn.
It could take 300 Wonka bars
to find a golden ticket;
To eat that pile of chocolate
boy, you've really gotta dig it.
We shovel snow in winter time
before we get to spring.
Some guys will sacrifice their jeep
to buy a wedding ring.
It's half a dozen previews
and then the presentation,
And only after 8th grade trials
comes high school graduation.
Airport security must be passed
before you find your gate.
It's odd that much of traveling
is stand in line and wait.
You've got to go in rush hour
then you park in your garage.
You have to do stuff for your wife
to earn a back massage.
Hours of piano lessons came
before the big recital.
The Cougars played the U of U
before they won the title.
Perhaps I should get to the point
before this poem gets longer.
I guess that what I'm trying to say
is that trials make you stronger.
So when you have a problem
there's no reason to complain.
It might just be that all that's wrong
is for your eternal gain.
Next time a trial comes along
don't gripe or write a letter.
Just see what's really going on
your problems make you better.
I hope my amateurish poem
my point will not diminish.
Sometimes a rough start comes before
a really awesome finish.
-John Bytheway
