Originally posted on Facebook HERE
Everything comes in waves. Sometimes we get swept up and carried away by great things happening in our lives, whatever that might be for you – a new partner, a new job or a promotion, a big month or year for production, a new baby, or a combination of several things that make us feel like this is just the way life is going to be from now on – everything always works out. Other times, nothing seems to be going right. Positive or negative, once momentum starts swinging in one direction or the other we seem to get caught up in it. Ask any sports team how much of the game or the season is based on momentum. A couple big plays and you start to feel invincible. And once that feeling gets internalized, it becomes a belief – and that belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In sports, if a team is losing a lot it’ll work the other way, too – they start playing a game, get a lead, and start to think “hey, we have a chance to win this one”, then something bad happens… and the mind says “here we go again, we’re gonna lose”… another self-fulfilling prophecy. Abraham Lincoln said “Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be”. Epictetus said “Circumstances don’t make the man, they only reveal him to himself.” We know that life comes in waves. There will be good times, there will be bad times. When the going gets tough, keeping a happy, positive outlook isn’t always possible. When something bad happens, our first instincts aren’t usually anything resembling great joy at all. It’s anger, or sadness, frustration, dejection, or any of the other emotions that go along with news we’d rather not hear. And depending on what that news is, it can pull you down in all areas of your life. It can create a negative momentum of despair. Ups and downs and ebbs and flows are inevitable. We know this. But, do we have to let ourselves be pulled up and down by life events? Or can we learn to sit back and enjoy the show, whatever happens? The worst things we go through often lead to the best times we’ll ever experience. And once you start to see things that way?… self-fulfilling prophecy. But if you’re always of the mindset “nothing ever works out for me”, it won’t. That’s another self-fulfilling prophecy. “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right” – Henry Ford. “You become what you think about” – Napoleon Hill. So, try to catch yourself if you see your mind’s momentum going the wrong way. There are always things to be grateful for. And the only person writing, starring in and directing the script you’re writing for your life is you. Let’s not let the bumps in the road lead us to a path of destruction. There is always peace within us if we seek it.
