No matter what we do as individuals, I think it is safe to say that sometimes in life, it just doesn’t go as planned. Whether it’s a project at work, a personal goal, a planned event, etc. We can put in the endless work hours to think we have everything finalized and prepared down to the smallest detail. But for some rhyme or reason, it just does not turn out how we expected it to. I know I can’t be the only one who has experienced this. Typically, (and I will be the first one to admit it) our initial reaction can be to panic, get angry, find a way to place blame- whatever it may be. But what we really should do is change our perspective.
Perspective is everything. And we are in full control of how we look at things. And if we try hard enough we are able to change our way of thinking. Like I mentioned above, my first reaction typically is panic or anger. It’s this heart wrenching feeling of “Oh no! What am I going to do?!” When in reality, everything (usually) will be just fine. For example, last week I had just gotten back from our Energize Summit Event in San Antonio and had not driven my car for about a week. Prior to going to the event I had gotten an oil change, and all inspections came back normal. But when I went to start my car for the first time, the battery light popped on. I was running late to meet a friend so I kept driving, and then sure enough my steering stopped working. I physically couldn’t turn my car- everything had locked up. My first initial thoughts were “My car is done for. How am I going to afford this? How can this possibly be happening?” I could go on and on and on. I made it to Starbucks, and was able to put everything thing I have into making that wheel turn into the parking lot and into a parking space. I then called my friend who used to be a mechanic and asked him a million questions as to what could possibly be going on. Luckily he was in the area and met me at the Starbucks parking lot. He opened the hood, looked around with his phone flashlight, and voila! Pulls out this black infinity belt-which I now know is called the Serpentine belt. For those who also don’t know what this car part is, it is the continuous belt that is used to drive multiple devices in an automotive engine, such as an alternator, power steering pump, water pump, air conditioning compressor, air pump, etc. So pretty much, without this belt, I wasn’t going anywhere.
Typically I would have cried, said a few choice words, and been upset for the rest of the evening. But in that moment I decided to do the opposite. I told myself this is reason why I have a savings, these things happen, and that ultimately I needed to be thankful that I could get this fixed. I decided to change my perspective. And although the situation wasn’t ideal, I would be just fine. And certainly, I was.
So although we all experience these unfortunate situations, and although sometimes we think we have done all that we can possibly do, we all must learn to adjust. Control what you can and learn to roll with what you cannot. And when you’re upstream, without a paddle, learn to change your perspective, because it ultimately can change your life.
