"Think Different"

Are you a believer?  Are you different? Do you think differently, act differently, and speak differently? Do you approach grief, pain and loss in a way that is very different than the world's approach? If not, why not? Believers should be Macs in a world of  compliance, complacence and relativism. Be a true believer - Be different! Think like a Mac in a world of standardized, relativistic PC's. Be the Mac in a world that runs from difficulties, trials and loss because the world believes that this life is the ultimate prize.  We know differently don't we?  Take the message from the link below and be the believing square peg in a worldly round hole. Jesus and his small band of disciples were different to the point of being revolutionary. They changed the world -  -so can we!- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFEarBzelBs&feature=related

Getting Started

My mom and dad both told me as I was growing up that "nothing good ever comes easy." What an understatement! Some of the opportunities that we pursue bring with them a unique set of challenges and difficulties. When we choose the opportunity, we choose the challenges and difficulties that come with them. There are other "opportunities" however that come not by choice but apparently by cosmic design. Some of these cosmically generated opportunities bring with them challenges and difficulties that threaten to beat us senseless and leave us lying in a heap on the ground. 
Yikes!
I am getting beat senseless and I can't understand why! I didn't ask for this. It is certainly not something I would have chosen but God has apparently decided that it is best for me to suffer through this ordeal. I've read Job, and I think I "get it" but that really does nothing to soften the blow. 
Help me out here...why does life at times just simply suck? Is it my fault? Why did God choose me or my family to suffer this way? did he really choose me or did I just crap out on the last roll of the cosmic dice?
Tell me your thoughts...I'm interested. 
Better yet, tell me your own story of challenge and difficulty and how you dealt with it...or didn't.
Let's talk about it, struggle with it, and see if we can gain some understanding together. 
Blessings and let me hear from you,
John