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(…continued from last week)

Fortunate or Misfortune

Here’s a story that illustrates that point. Centuries ago there was a farmer who began his chores first thing one morning and discovered his prize stallion had run away. He had broken through a fence and escaped. One of his neighbors came by at that moment and said ‘Oh, that’s really unfortunate, sorry your prize horse ran away’.

The farmer looked at him and said, ‘We don’t know that yet. How do you know that this is a bad experience? How do you know that his leaving was bad?’

A number of days later this prize stallion returned. But he didn’t come back alone. With him were nearly a dozen of the most beautiful wild horses the farmer had ever seen.

Seeing these, the neighbor came over and said ‘Wow, are you ever fortunate! It’s amazing, look at this great thing that happened’.

The farmer looked at him and said ‘Hmm, good fortune huh. Well I’m not sure, how do I know that having these is a good thing?’

Later that day the farmer’s young son who was thrilled with the new horses selected one of the most beautiful ones to be his. On his attempt to ride the new little wild horse bareback, the horse bucked him off and he broke his leg.

Learning of this situation, the neighbor again being sympathetic came over to console the farmer and said ‘Oh what a terrible thing. I know you need your son to help you on the farm, it’s terrible he broke his leg.’ The farmer looked at him and said ‘Terrible? Hmm, I don’t know that yet. We’ll have to see if it’s terrible or not.’

About two weeks later, a vicious nomad warlord came sweeping through the countryside picking up all the able-bodied young men to go on a campaign raiding neighboring countryside communities. Because the son’s leg was broken, he couldn’t go and so he was left behind.

Think about it, how do we know necessarily that something is good or is bad? It’s a perspective you hold in many cases.

How many times does a tough situation turn out to be not so bad or maybe even turned out to be a good thing? It’s a learning process, it’s an experience.

We need to pay attention and be conscious so that we can see what’s coming at us and learn from it as it moves forward. Just like in Illusions where Richard Bach said ‘Every problem you face has a gift in its hands for you’.

These gifts that we experience going through life can help us grow, learn, be more effective, become better as human beings. A timely awareness can really help us move forward. Breaking free is about catching those situations and making better choices.

Pause for a Moment and Reflect

For instance, I’d like you to pause for a moment and reflect. Notice the perspective you hold. Think about some of the personal learning that can happen in these situations….
having a child,
getting married,
getting a divorce,
losing a good friend,
having a near-death experience,
having unfinished business or not being able to say those things you wanted to someone you cared about who moved away,
being invited to an important function in your community,
meeting a homeless person on the street and having a really positive personal interaction with them,
finding out that you really can’t control everything around you including your family members,
inheriting a large amount of money,
discovering your spouse is having an affair,
losing a large amount of money in an investment.

These are all opportunities to learn from. Sometimes really great, sometimes not so much. But it in many cases is how we look at it and what we do in the midst of it that really makes the difference.

For instance, in our careers often times there are opportunities to discover more about ourselves. Think about some professional experiences that really can wake you up and help you go forward, like being passed over for a promotion, blowing an examination for certification, taking a sabbatical from work. What about changing your major in college?

One path you thought you were on, suddenly you take a different one–getting fired, moving to a new city and having to really start over building your social support system, completing a major goal or achieving an acknowledgement, getting recognized by your peers for what you’ve done, acquiring a new boss who for whatever reason just rubs you wrong and doesn’t particularly like you.

Each process, each situation is something that we can become more aware of and can grow and learn from. There is no situation that in and of itself is wonderful or not.

(to be continued…)

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Thriving In Uncertain Times
You are an entrepreneur. No matter what job you do—you’re in business for yourself. Everyone you cross paths with needs to believe in you and must have a desire to work with you. Your most important job is building a brand called “Y-O-U”. Everything you are doing is either enhancing or diminishing that brand. In this program Dr. Larry Iverson will share keys to success so you thrive! Know the 4 things you must be able to do to get people to buy-in to your vision and plan. How to use the 2 elements central to long-lasting trust to enhance your crucial relationships. Know how to implement a proven step-by-step strategy for attaining even the toughest goals in half the time. Learn the 6 essential components that forge unbreakable bonds with others. How to eliminate resistance to change and the learn 12 ways to overcome the procrastination habit. Do you ever wonder why some people achieve great success more easily than most? It’s not an accident. Starting today you can begin turning this around!