*Everything* Contributes to Your Advancement

ByMatthew

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude. – Emerson

On the heels of yesterday’s post, let me ask:

What are you rejecting?

What do you wish hadn’t happened?

Or, what situation or circumstance do you wish were different?

Because, as Emerson so eloquently describes, everything that happens contributes to your advancement.

***

(What are you resisting, that is persisting?)

***

But wait!

You protest: “Emerson said ‘every good thing that comes to you,’ not everything.”

Actually, read closer (as I needed to initially… ) the first half of the second sentence clears it all up:

“And because all things have contributed to your advancement . . . ” [my emphasis]

Being grateful for everything that has happened doesn’t mean you want “bad” things to happen again, or regularly, only that by rejecting certain parts of your experience, you reject parts of who you are (i.e. the stuff that has helped “make” you).

Be grateful for it all – and learn from it all – but seek to repeat and strengthen the best stuff.

Similar Posts

  • Smooth Roads or Suspension?

    ByMatthew

    I recently read a (nother) brilliant post by Seth Godin, one piece of which was about resilience. It got me to thinking: is better to have ultra smooth roads and cars with no suspension, no shock absorbers, or to build cars with resilience? Which would be a more intelligent use of resources? Living in the…

  • The Missing Element

    ByMatthew

    There are many resources for the “how” of anything. If you want to be more productive, successful, have better relationships, get promoted, start a business, . . . and on and on, there’s no shortage of resources that will lay out exactly what you must do to have whatever it is you want. They are…

  • Find Challenges

    ByMatthew

    If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you. – Zig Ziglar If we’re not growing we’re dying (we’re dying anyway, but don’t let that get in my way here… ). When we seek and surmount challenges we get better. We become more confident and sure of ourselves. Isn’t that what we want? Is that…

  • It’s All About Focus

    ByMatthew

    Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough. – Oprah Winfrey What you focus on is everything. Imagine your “focus” is a steering wheel in a car. Where you steer towards is what you get. Of course, sometimes…