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The 20th century industrialist, Henry Ford, once wrote: "Life is a series of experiences, each one makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks which we endure help us in our marching onward."

Challenge and character. They are the hand-in-glove and the alpha and omega for us who live clothed as humans. I don't know when I first heard the expression, "If it doesn't kill you, you're the better for it." I'm sure you've heard those words from a wisdom teacher in your life.

Wisdom keepers remind us of the indelible interweaving of challenge and character. Goethe stated it clearly, "Character develops itself in the stream of life." It wouldn't be untruthful to say that character growth often finds its maturation when we're in a ditch trying to dig ourselves out of the mess we've created.

Don't get me wrong. We're not born for the ditch. No, we humans do aspire to noble living. But, it does seem that true nobility is earned on the anvil of adversity. I remember reading about the original talk show host, Arthur Godfrey, visiting the village smitty as a youngster in his rural hometown. He watched the smitty pick up one piece of iron and throw it on a pile; then picked up another piece, putting it into the fire to shape a horseshoe. Young Arthur asked the smitty, "Why do some pieces go into the pile and others into the fire? The smitty responded, "Some iron can't take the heat of the fire."

A great character lesson: Can we take the heat to shape the iron of our life into some useful purpose? I like to fantasize that we have an army of smittys in America.parents, teachers, grandparents, custodians, bus drivers - all of whom are interested in America's kids growing up to be kids of character. They have a common mission to share with America's kids: Don't be afraid of adversity's fire. It's your ally, your friend, your partner in building a life of noble purpose.