I may have figured out why I liked the Rocky movies so much. Those scenes where he is just getting hit over and over again and keeps getting back up, never giving up and coming out victorious in the end.
There were so many times when I was younger that I wanted to give up. So many times I just had no idea how I was going to get through so many of the different crazy situations I was in. Maybe some of it came from watching these movies, maybe it came from my time in the Marine Corps but there has just always been something in me that kept telling me that I couldn’t quit, that people were counting on me and that I had to keep fighting.
Ironically, the challenges and situations never seem to have stopped coming but how I deal with them now has changed.
Now I know what is really valuable to me and I don’t let the “problems” take that away from me.
What’s most important to you? I predict that for most that answer is children, spouse and or family.
If you lose that customer or even that job, if you are broke as a church mouse, have to live in a smaller house or drive an older car, is that going to cost you your children, spouse or family? Of course not. Yet, look around at how many people are indeed losing what’s most important to them, spending all of their time focusing on everything else.
The most important things to me begin with my health and sanity. If I’m not in the right state of mind I’m not going to be able to be there for anyone else. So for me, spending some time golfing, shooting pool, camping, traveling, etc., well those are very important and I am going to make time for them even when it often means less in the way of the material things in life.
The last part of this recipe is that when things start going back, I simply revert back to periods when the struggling was really hitting me and I basically weigh them against what I’m going through and it often gets to the point I want to giggle.
Putting all of this together, this is how I am able to keep calm and relaxed during some of the craziest situations. I also have some little quotes that help too.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So simple yet so helpful. I have completed so many things that I thought I could never complete just thinking about this one.
It’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get back up. As long as I am still here I will always be coming back for more!
Don’t sweat the small stuff and it’s all, small stuff. Think about the four or five worst possible things that could happen to you………… everything else, literally everything else, is small stuff 😉
Relax, enjoy the ride and have a fantastic day!