"Rough Start, Great Finish"

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 being 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 that this was not a pleasure trip.
The wilderness dark and dreary lay before the tree of life.

You must fetch Ishmael’s family before you find your wife.
The wilderness will always come before the promised land.
Before they sewed 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 the Cracker Jacks before you get your prize.

You have to sit through 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.

Could take 300 Wonka bars to find a Golden Ticket.

To eat that pile of chocolate, boy, you’ve really got to dig it.

We shovel snow in wintertime

before we get to spring.

Some guys will sacrifice their Jeep

to buy a wedding ring.

It’s half a dozen previews then the feature presentation.

And only after 8^th 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 through 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 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’s 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, "Rough Start, Great Finish"