Facing life’s challenges

For a very long time, my philosophy has stated that everything always works out for me.  However, when things seem to go wrong for me people are quick to point out that my belief is not always correct. Last week was a great example. I had a leadership conference in the US and on my way there I experienced flight delays and lost luggage.  This made it a long travel day but with the big storm in the southern US states, I was prepared for much worse. My luggage also took two days to reach me. In the end, I was able to buy everything that I needed from my suitcase and the airline has promised to pay for the new clothes that I bought.  Everything worked out even though there were moments when I felt frustrated or annoyed.  When I reflected on things after the conference it made me smile as it was a nice reminder for me to keep calm and trust in what life brings me. You never know how you will benefit from it in the future.

People misunderstand my belief that everything works out for me.  It is a long term view of life.  Things are always working out for me in the way that I need them to. Every challenge I face exposes my weakness or allows me to grow and become better than I was. And so do some of the positive things that come my way.  As much as I appreciate when things go smoothly I have learned to embrace when things temporarily do not. I have a colleague who hosts a workshop called “Failure Night” where people from all areas of business talk about the mistakes they have made and what they have learned from them. It is an acknowledgement that things will go wrong sometimes but that through this we become better and see the world more clearly. It is a celebration of the knowledge gained from temporary mistakes.

This is the spirit I encourage you to embrace when facing your challenges in life. An optimistic world view does not make you naive or blind to reality. Instead, it keeps you looking forward and able to see the opportunities.  If you remain stuck in the things that have gone wrong you are not looking forward to the potential that your future holds.  If you expect things to go wrong your unconscious will steer you toward more problems.  Remember that whether things go right or wrong in your eyes, both are temporary states or situations in your life. More change is always around the corner. When you trust that things are all working out for you while you put your energy into achieving the things you want for yourself then you will not only find more success but be happier on your journey.