Enduring the crosses of the world

I hope that whoever takes time to read this can also take time to reply back and tell me your thoughts on the matter! I would LOVE to hear back from ya'll. I feel like the topic I'm going to talk about can be discussed pretty simply but also pretty deep and I think I'm somewhere caught in the middle. So as I share with you my thoughts, please share with me yours. I want to learn more about this topic.

I was reading today in 2 Nephi and came across vs.18

"But behold, the righteous, the Saints of the holy one of Isreal, they who have believed in the Holy one of Isreal, they who have ENDURED THE CROSSES of the world and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the Kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever."

The part I highlighted is the part that stuck out to me and made me really want to dig deeper. I will next share the cross references that went along with the word crosses.

Luke 14:27 "And whosoever doth not bear His cross, and come after me cannot be my disciple."

Mathew 10:38 "And he that taketh not His cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me."

Jacob 1:8 "All men would believe in Christ and view His death and suffer His cross and bear the shame of the world"

Luke 9:23 "And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up His cross daily, and follow me."

So that gave me a good idea of what "enduring the crosses of the world" or "bearing His cross" meant but I wanted to continue to find more on this subject so I went to LDS.org and searched some talks about this subject. I found one by Elder Marvin J. Ashton called Carry Your Cross.

"over the centuries, in the minds of millions of people, the cross has been recognized as a symbol of Christianity. Rather than displaying the cross, we prefer to try CARRYING OUR CROSSES."

"The Lords message to us is "Take up your cross." Take yourself the way you are, and lift yourself in the direction of the better. Regardless of where you have been, what you have done, or what you haven't done, trust God. Believe in Him. Worship Him as you carry your cross with dignity and determination."

"As we read in Mathew, we save our lives by losing them for the Lord's sake. As we lose ourselves, we will find God. That is His promise and I declare that it is true."

"What Kind of Cross do we each bear?? The crosses we may carry are: Loneliness, physical limitations those are obvious crosses. Poor health, transgression, success, temptations, beauty, fame, wealth, financial burdens."

In the Book Joseph Smith the Prophet, George Q. Cannon points out repeatedly that the greatest cross Joseph Smith had to bear and he had many was the cross of trusted friends who were not worthy of the word trust. His heartaches, his inconveniences and his death were caused by those who had betrayed his trust.

"Many people who have been called to positions of responsibility humbly say, "God I'm weak, but with your help, I can do it." We need to give him a chance to help us lift that cross, and when he helps us, we will praise him."

"God can make our crosses easier to bear if we are willing to seek his help."

"Sometimes we are give crosses so that we can learn to pray."

"Crosses become more manageable when we learn to pray and when we learn to wait for an answer. An unwillingness to listen and learn can be a silent cross of considerable weight."

"And so we do not reverence crosses. Instead, we strive to Carry them with dignity and power. It is our right and responsibility to carry our crosses, and while we're doing it, to have the good sense and judgement to count our blessings."

"I bear witness to you that carrying our crosses and following the Savior will bring us strength, peace; and purpose in our quest for the abundant life. May we carry our crosses with strength and purpose and while we do, may we count the blessings of Gods strength so that with his help, we can succeed the quest."

Ok so my mind is kind of mixed up on this whole topic. I think I get what it's saying but I feel like I may have two different meanings of the symbolism of the cross going on here!??? I'm not really sure and that's why I would love your thoughts or comments on this topic because I really want to figure out exactly what this is all saying. I think it is a very strong point but I just need to figure out exactly what it is all saying. I realize that it is referring to "our crosses" being, hardships, temptations, poor health, anything we may be struggling with... so why does it say "May we carry our crosses with strength and purpose." Is that basically saying that we need to have a good attitude through our trials and realize that they do have a purpose!?? Please let me know your thoughts on the matter. I am really wanting to learn more about this topic and what others think!! :)