Things Are What We Say They Are
Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat – Napoleon Hill
At the risk of sounding like a ranting Dennis Green, things are what we say they are, and when we say they are things that serve us, that’s what they become.
When confronted with a set-back, challenge, problem, issue, or whatever, we decide (consciously, or otherwise) what it means. What follows from that decision (whether conscious and constructive or not) makes all the difference.
As Jack Canfield says: there’s an Event, we have a Response and there is an Outcome.
We can’t control the Event, but we can choose/control our Response.
The Outcome follows from the our Response.
We create the Outcome, at least in our perception, if not in the (physical) World.
So, when we say things are for our benefit (even if we don’t enjoy them in-the-moment), we can use them for our development and growth.
I’m not being a Pollyanna here… sometimes Events kick us in the gut and leave us gasping for “air.” In those cases, we need to catch our breath before deciding what something means, and what our Response will be to it.
But most of our lives are tiny little things – good, bad and indifferent – that we process and respond (or react) to. Living well is developing first the awareness of this process and then the skill of choosing positive, constructive Responses.