Whatisthesecretingredientoftoughpeoplethatenablesthemtosucceed?
Whydotheysurvivethetoughtimeswhenothersareovercomebythem?Whydotheywinwhenotherslose?Whydotheysoarwhenotherssink?Theanswerisverysimple.It’sallinhowtheyperceivetheirproblems.Yes,everylivingpersonhasproblems.Aproblem-freelifeisanillusion—amirageinthedesert.Acceptthatfact.Everymountainhasapeak.Everyvalleyhasitslowpoint.Lifehasitsupsanddowns,itspeaksanditsvalleys.Nooneisupallthetime,noraretheydownallthetime.Problemsdoend.Theyareallresolvedintime.Youmaynotbeabletocontrolthetimes,butyoucancomposeyourresponses.Youmaynothavechosenyourtoughtime,butyoucanchoosehowyouwillreacttoit.Forinstance,whatisthepositivereactiontoaterriblefinancialsetback?Inthissituationwoulditbethepositivereactiontocopoutandrunaway?Escapethroughalcohol,drug,orsuicide?
No!Suchnegativereactionsonlyproducegreaterproblemsbypromisingatemporary“solution”tothepressingproblem.Thepositivesolutiontoaproblemmayrequirecouragetoinitiateit.
Whenyoucontrolyourreactiontotheseeminglyuncontrollableproblemoflife,theninfactyoudocontroltheproblem’seffectonyou.Yourreactiontotheproblemisthelastword!That’sthebottomline.Whatwillyouletthisproblemdotoyou?Itcanmakeyoutenderortough.Itcanmakeyoubetterorbitter.Italldependsonyou.Inthefinalanalysis,thetoughpeoplewhosurvivethetoughtimesdosobecausethey’vechosentoreactpositivelytotheirpredicament.Toughtimesneverlast,buttoughpeopledo.Toughpeoplestickitout.Historyteachesusthateveryproblemhasalifespan.bNoproblemispermanent.