Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 6 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: The Choices We Make
— From Endeavor: Thrive Through Work Aligned with Your Values, Talents, and Tribe by Scott Perry
Whenever we practice any endeavor, we go at it with much enthusiasm at the beginning and then we become upset or disappointed when we start encountering hurdles. This is completely natural.
Once we overcome the hurdle, we become recommitted to our endeavor, and the cycle continues. The most important thing to keep in mind when we face obstacles is the choices we make. The Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus said:
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
Scott Perry, the author of the book Endeavor and founder of Creative on Purpose, says: “Challenge and hardship are inevitable. Struggling and suffering are choices. So are resilience and resolve.”
This blew me away. It’s so true. It’s all in the choices we make and the way we see the hurdles.
Perry continues:
“Progress is facilitated when training is put into practice. You need obstacles, challenges, and misfortune that test and push your abilities.
Don’t avoid these moments. Don’t hide from them. Welcome them. Embrace them. Thank them.
People, situations, and circumstances that encourage you to exercise and employ what you’ve learned are why you practice and prepare. You’ll grow, or you’ll learn.
Either is a lesson in resilience and resolve that’s worth your time and effort.”
So, if we make a conscious choice of seeing any obstacle we encounter as a teacher, we will resolve to overcome it and draw a valuable lesson from it to move forward. That doesn’t mean that we will like the obstacle or not have a hard time finding a solution to it. But what it means is that we will make an intentional choice not to suffer and to be on the lookout for the lesson every step of the way, and this will make it easier to handle.
It’s all in the choices we make: set yourself up to win.
“What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him.” – Victor Frankl
ACTION
TODAY: What choice will you consciously make today when you encounter an obstacle? Depending on what it is, you have myriad ways to react to it. Choose the gentler, more enlightened way to solve it. Remember the beautiful words by Dr. Wayne Dyer, “when given the choice between being right and being kind, always choose to be kind.”
FUTURE: When life throws you a curveball, resolve it by intentionally choosing your responses and reactions.
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