At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo endured more than her share of difficulty. As a child she was bedridden by a severe case of polio that left one leg shorter and weaker than the other. As a teenager she was nearly killed in a bus accident, impaled by a handrail; the injury left her spine and pelvis damaged, requiring many more surgeries over the course of her life and rendering her unable to have children. Yet, though Kahlo struggled, she never gave up. During one of her many long and painfully frustrating periods of bedrest, she rigged up an easel over her bed so that she could continue to paint, even though she could not stand or even sit. She used images of herself in surgical braces and hospital beds repeatedly in her paintings, committed always to transforming her pain into meaningful work.