You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as
bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated - send to: GregReid@AlwaysGood.comWhy Things Are The Way They Are Things are way you think they are, because you think they are that way. An interesting statement I know, but let’s break it down a bit if you will, and see what this Really means.
When it’s all said and done, “things” do happen right? In fact there is a bumper sticker that I am sure you have all seen which had been National catch phrase that really summed it up in a more colorful manner....&#IT Happens! Remember that one?
Well, this got me to thinking...you know what? That sticker is right, life is going to throw us a few curve balls now and then. I believe that is simply a part of life itself. It’s not really a matter of If something challenging is going to come our way or not, but only when these things are going to arise. Now if this is an agreed upon statement, let’s continue down this road a bit more...
Since things are going to happen anyway, shouldn’t we maintain most Positive solution searching attitude toward them for when they do? I mean, it beats alternative doesn’t it? And have you ever noticed that no matter how dreaded situation seemed at moment, over time it is realized that it wasn’t so horrible after all? I tend to refer to this as “mid-night thinking“, you know, when we lay awake in middle of night worrying over every little thing, every little sound, every problem or situation that we possibly could, and then in morning we realize that everything is fine and we laugh at ourselves, wondering what heck we were worrying about in first place?
For, when daylight comes, or any light is cast upon our crisis, (like reality) it’s our Interpretation of experience, not experience itself that determines emotions we attach to it. And even more importantly, it’s this reaction (the way in which we respond to adversity) that others determine our character as a person to others. What do I mean by this? Well, simple really...we learn more about someone's character on their bad day-when things go wrong, far more than we can learn about them while everything is going right. Let’s face it, it’s easy to be all happy and go-lucky when things are going your way, but it’s when chips are down that we learn what we need to most about who they really are as a person.
