As I look back on 2011, I can’t help but think about some of the challenges that I faced.
Challenges such as my wife being diagnosed with Breast Cancer.
I look at this with a philosophy of the glass being “half full” because the cancer was caught in the earliest possible stage. Her surgery and radiation treatments are now behind us and our family is now stronger because of this experience. By the way . . .
I’m Not Looking For The Meaning Of This Sh*tty Event!
Sometimes we get caught up in the “Why did this happen?” thing or more specifically “Why did this happen to me?” thing . . . good luck with that one!
We rarely find meaning in bad events or set backs but . . .
We Can Identify A Lesson or Equivalent Benefit!
The lesson in this case was the importance of early detection. Had my wife missed her checkups, we might have had a really different outcome!
There were also equivalent benefits such as a strengthening of our 28 year relationship and not because of some endless group hug . . . because our relationship was challenged!
I’ll spare you the details regarding any other challenges this year because this isn’t a “Poor Uncle Paul” post . . . It’s a “How do I choose to define my year” post!
Time Out! I’m not into turning “frowns upside down” and lying to myself when I’m pissed. In fact, if you caught me on the right day last year, I would tell you that I was feeling like someone had a Paul Castain voodoo doll and was sticking me in both my right and left ass cheek but . . . after I got that “stinkin thinkin” out of my system, I decided to focus on finding the lesson and benefit.
Do that and you find a way to be grateful instead of bitter!
But wait . . . there’s so much more!
That same glass, that I decided to view as half full must now be emptied!
Too many times we carry around our own sad stories and it occupies the glass preventing us from filling it with the present.
I can’t fill my glass with joy . . . if it is overflowing with bitterness.
I can’t fill my glass with hope . . . if it is full of fear.
“Emptying our glass” also refers to our own opinions and self imposed boundaries that we carry around with us . . . year to year!
And maybe its time we empty our glass and become more open to learning new things.
Action: Take some time to look at 2011 and . . .
1) Identify the lessons you learned from your challenges.
2) Find the equivalent benefit of those challenges
3) By all means, make a list of and count your blessings then . . .
Empty your glass so you might drink in all of life’s nectar!
Here’s to YOU!
For those of you who would like to attack the new year differently, I would highly recommend my Playbook For A Successful Year webinar on January 10th at 1:30 Eastern. Here’s the link with all the details http://www.instantpresenter.com/PIID=EA52DD82834F Oh and I intentionally set the date for this for that magical moment when our New Year’s resolutions are starting to lose some of the initial momentum!
To hire Paul as your personal coach or to train your team, click here
