Good morning, World! It’s Friday!

For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again but the wicked stumble when calamity falls
Proverbs 24:16

How do you gain a sense of appreciation?

When things go well, we feel good and start to believe we made all the right choices and our success is by our own hand. But…
when things don’t go well, we think we’re cursed and made poor choices and wring our hands and grind our teeth and grumble and cuss and we dig our own mental holes. Every road has bumps and rough patches and detours. No one gets a newly paved highway from cradle to grave. No one. So why does it seem that some people have it so easy?
Did they get “lucky”? Or…did they learn the ninth Fruit of the Spirit and master self-control? Did they stop complaining to the (ultimate) referee and wake up earlier every day to sharpen the mastery of their own game?

Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind individual to climb the seven highest peaks on seven continents, knows failure and he knows self control. In his book The Adversity Advantage written with Paul Stolz, they used the metaphor of the Seven Summits to discuss how to turn pain and suffering into growth and development. Sounds better than whining followed by more pain and suffering, doesn’t it?

I can’t tell you why I’ve always been this way but simply and professionally stated, I prefer candor. If it looks and smells like [ahem…pooh], it probably is. Who among you appreciates a polished turd? I say, call it what it is, allocate resources accordingly and move on.

If you laid an egg, biffed it, messed up or were dealt a crappy hand…get up, clean it up and move on. What more certain way do you know of to not repeat something besides living through a bad situation? The quicker you recognize your situation, the quicker you can improve it. Once you’ve lived through a bad situation, the slimmer the chance you’d repeat it.

Gain wisdom, apply liberally on your future and succeed!

Have a blessed weekend.