Necessity is the mother of invention, and when there is necessity, we must be the own mother of our invention.
What would you do if you suddenly lost everything, and you had to start over with nothing?
Would you be more creative after your loss or before your loss?
Sure, there would be a moment of mourning for your loss.
You need to take time to mourn.
You can’t live in your mourning forever.
At some point, you must dust yourself off and get back on your feet.
You can’t let temporary events define your life.
No matter how good, bad, or neutral an event is, all events in our lives are temporary.
Think about the life-defining moments you’ve had in your life.
How long did those moments in your life last?
For a moment.
My wedding to my wife Angel is one of the most significant events in my life.
It was a celebration of love and commitment.
As amazing as our wedding was, that moment is gone forever.
It only lives in my memory.
I can’t go to my wife and tell her that I proved my love to her twenty years ago when we got married.
I must show my love to her daily to keep the relationship alive.
Like everybody else, I’ve had my low moments.
I’ve lost loved ones who died way too young.
The mourning, grief, and pain were so deep they fogged my mind, and many days it was all I could do to keep my head above water.
I had to learn how to move on and make something new of my life.
Many people are facing new challenges to a changing world.
Guess what, the world changes every day.
Sometimes there is a small shift, and sometimes there is a major shift.
We can wallow in self-pity and mourn the life that we once knew and loved, or we can rise from the ashes and become more than we thought was possible.
I chose to become more.
That’s what life is about – becoming the best version of yourself.
Some people will say, “But I don’t know what to do. There’s so much uncertainty.”
My reply is, so what.
Whether you realize it or not, there is always uncertainty.
The only we have certainty in our lives is by creating certainty in our lives.
When we get knocked down, we have to figure out a way to get back up.
If we stay down, we lose.
I sincerely believe nobody wants to be a loser.
So chose now to become a winner.
How do you win?
Get back up every time.
No matter what.
As long as you keep getting back up, you win.
The only time you lose is when you give up.
But what if my old life is no longer possible?
Many people will be losing jobs, and business will be shutting their doors for good over the next few months.
These will be tragic events.
Their life’s work came to an end.
See this as an opportunity to start anew.
Shut the door on the past and live in the moment.
Go at it in a new way.
If that new way doesn’t work, try a different way.
Find someone who is successful that you respect.
Have a conversation with them and ask for their advice.
When you are feeling at your lowest, find a way to help someone else.
About 13 years ago, my boss fired me.
It was a massive defeat.
I had never failed so miserably in my life.
About six weeks later, I spent a few days in New Orleans, providing free business guidance to business owners who had lost everything when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Crescent City.
That was a transformative experience for me.
I learned two things during that time in the land of purple, green, and gold.
- I learned that I had more to offer than I thought I did during my lowest point.
- There is always a way to have a better day tomorrow.
When I was a child, the movie Annie came to theaters of a young orphan girl with an indomitable optimistic spirit.
Even though the evil, Miss Hannigan, who ran the orphanage where Annie lived, was brutal to Annie and the other girls that lived in the orphanage, Annie had a bright, effervescent smile plastered on her face.
Then in a moment of brilliance, she sings the anthem song, The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow.
One of the best practices I’ve developed is the habit of gratitude.
For too many years in my life, I carried the baggage of my prior pains, tragedies, and disappointments.
They weighed me down so much that at times it hampered me and kept me in a place of pain.
I tried to let go.
Honestly, I tried.
But the pain of those prior events was so poignant I couldn’t let go.
Then I started to recognize the wonders of my life.
I started to live in the moment of those wonders and appreciate those wonders for what they actually were.
These wonders were the full blow offspring of my deepest darkest moments.
Those darkest moments became a crucible for me that brought new seeds of life for a better, more beautiful life.
When I began to appreciate and live the wonders of my life, the prior pains melted over time.
Gratitude healed me from so many unpleasant pains.
No matter what, every day, there is something to treasure.
No matter what, every day, there is something to regret.
The difference in the quality of our lives is directly proportional to the choices we make.
Will we treasure our days, or will we regret our days?
I implore you to choose gratitude.
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