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,heninfactyoudocontroltheproblem’seffectonyou.
Yourreactiontotheproblemisthelastword!That’sthebottomline.Whatwillyouletthisproblemdotoyou?Itcanmakeyoutenderortough.Itcanmakeyoubetterorbitter.Italldependsonyou.Inthefinalanalysis,thetoughpeoplewhosurvivethetoughtimesdosobecausethey’vechosentoreactpositivelytotheirpredicament.Toughtimesneverlast,buttoughpeopledo.Toughpeoplestickitout.Historyteachesusthateveryproblemhasalifespan.Noproblemispermanent.
