Life goes up and down. So I just incorporate it with my music.

"Life goes up and down. So I just incorporate it with my music. I’m just blessed." Thus spoke Rod Wave, and though his words are born of modern struggle and melody, they carry the resonance of ancient wisdom. For from the dawn of time, men and women have known the rise and fall of fortune, the laughter of plenty and the sorrow of want. No life is a straight path; every journey is shaped by valleys and peaks. Yet the secret Rod reveals is this: not to despair in the lows, nor be blinded in the highs, but to weave both into a song, and to call oneself blessed in the midst of it all.

The ancients likened life to the sea, forever shifting, never still. One day the waters are calm and radiant, another day the storms rage and waves crash without mercy. So it is with our days: health and sickness, joy and grief, triumph and loss. Many grow bitter when storms arise, forgetting that the storm is as much a teacher as the calm. But those who are wise, like Rod Wave, know to take the whole of life—both ascent and descent—and make of it art, testimony, and strength.

Music has ever been the chosen vessel of such wisdom. David poured his anguish into psalms, lifting lament into prayer. The enslaved in America turned their pain into spirituals, carrying both sorrow and hope in the same song. Blues musicians wove hardship into melody, giving voice to a people who had little else. Rod Wave stands in this long tradition: one who takes the “ups and downs” and makes them bearable, even beautiful, by shaping them into music. In this way, he transforms private struggle into a gift shared with many.

Consider the tale of Beethoven, who in the silence of deafness could have surrendered to despair. Instead, he heard music in his soul and composed works that shook the earth. His Ninth Symphony, written in near-total silence, is not a song of ease, but of triumph born through suffering. So too Rod reminds us that hardship is not the enemy of creation, but often its seed. The low notes give meaning to the high, and the pain gives weight to the joy.

The power of Rod’s words lies also in his humility: “I’m just blessed.” For though the storms of life may howl, he sees not only the struggle but the grace within it. To call oneself blessed in hardship is the mark of strength; it is to recognize that even pain, when transformed, becomes a gift. The ancients would call this gratitude: the ability to see beyond the wound to the wisdom it offers, to give thanks not only for abundance but for trials that forge the soul.

The lesson, then, is clear: do not curse the valleys of your journey, nor cling desperately to the peaks. Instead, incorporate both into your walk, as Rod incorporates them into his music. Learn to see in every change of fortune the raw material for growth, for expression, for wisdom. And above all, do not forget to name yourself blessed, for the breath in your lungs, the song in your heart, and the chance to live another day.

Practical wisdom calls us to action: when joy comes, share it. When sorrow comes, shape it into something greater than grief—speak it, write it, sing it. Let no experience go to waste; turn every rise and fall into a step along the path of your becoming. Keep a journal, hum a song, or simply give thanks at the close of each day. In doing so, you turn the wheel of life into a rhythm, and your soul becomes an instrument of resilience.

Therefore, children of tomorrow, take Rod Wave’s words to heart: life will rise and fall, as it always has. You cannot command its tides, but you can decide what to make of them. Let your struggles and joys alike become music, let gratitude be your shield, and let the knowledge of being blessed guide you through both storm and calm. For in the end, the highest art is not the song of triumph alone, but the song that holds within it both the sorrow and the joy of the human journey.