What if everything that has happened to you in life so far has led to what’s going to happen today? What if every person you met, every failure you suffered, every dime you won or loss, every sad, beautiful or lonely day has led you to today? How would you live this day?
This isn’t the same as asking “what if you knew this was your last day on earth,” although there is certainly merit to that consideration as well. We’ve all heard the expression “everything happens for a reason”–but more than that, what if everything that happened, has been a set up for today? Would you have any different attitude? Would have have any expectations?
It is very easy to be hard on ourselves when things just don’t go the way we hoped. I mean, no one sets out to fail, or lose, or be the last one picked for a team. But it happens. So the important thing to consider is: what do you do with that experience? I say almost daily: I should write a big fat book on how NOT to do things. How NOT to run a business, or manage people, or eat boneless chicken. The important thing I think we need to stay focused on is to LEARN from the good days as much as we regret those sucky days. Don’t let that whole mess (whatever it may be) all be for nothing. Learn from your mistakes, GROW while you are in the middle of it and TEACH others the lessons you are learning. I wish more people in my life had shared with me their failed attempts at things and how they came out on the other side–as opposed to “do this and do that” with no real clear understanding of why or why not. I believe we all get more from people who are “REAL” and have been where we are.
I know I am going to get in trouble for this, but here goes… I’ve gone to church since I was too young to remember starting, but it wasn’t until I was 37 years old that I heard my new pastor say he had a fight with his wife over the weekend. WHAT!? You mean he’s a HUMAN? And he has relationship issues just like me? All I ever heard from other pastors was how wonderful their devoted lovely wives were, followed by a quip of how her meatloaf was the best in the world. When I heard my pastor say that he had problems too…I instantly said to myself, “Ok, I feel ya.” and it was far easier to trust things he said following that. My point here is that we ALL have good and bad, but hiding the bad from people doesn’t do us the good we think it does. It’s okay to have bad days and not do well at some things. It’s called being HUMAN. We are going to experience all sorts of success and failures from one day to another, for the rest of our lives.
So I come back to the original question…What if all that has happened has brought you to where you are right now? Then things don’t seem so wasted or pointless. I can easily look back and see where if it wasn’t for some pretty big flops in my life, I would not be in the place I am today. And where am I you ask? On top of the world? Relishing in my successes? Retired from a life of pain and struggles? NO! I am right in the thick of it with you! But the new mindset I encourage you to try is that ALL of this…everyone you’ve met, everything you’ve tried, accomplished and failed at…has brought you perfectly to where you are right now! By changing to this thought process, you begin to see that we are not a sum of only our accomplishments and glories, but rather a complete and worthwhile person with the potential and opportunities to do, be, see, live, experience, WHATEVER we want! And we are compiled from the “bad” just as much as we are from the “good.”
So rather than seeing our current position as an “up-and-down” roller coaster, recognize that you are still on your path and it’s going just fine. You have so much to be thankful for. We all have blessings to which we might have become complacent, since we live them every day. I always thought the Israelites were crazy for doubting God as they wandered all those years, and yet they had MANNA every day! (Supposedly, manna it tastes like Quail.) And it was supplied for them every single morning..and yet they complained. But we have to be careful as well. We need to realize we have just as powerful blessings in our lives…whether we are in a “good” place or not. Do you have food in you belly? You’re blessed! Air in your lungs? You’re blessed! A roof over your head? A pillow to lie on? A job? A spouse? Kids? It’s all around us.
So if this was all a set-up for you to be here, now, then take advantage of the incredible opportunity and go discover more about you, about life, about others. Look for the path that’s been given you even though you might have been so consumed with fear, doubt and worry that you missed it the first time around. Today is a GREAT day! It most certainly is NOT just “another day” – it is TODAY! And that is more than what yesterday was. You have overcome SO much and been given SO much…Live it wisely and fully!