How To Avoid Being Crushed By Adversity.

Misery surrounds us.?You don’t have to look far.?A friend fighting cancer.?Another wallowing in the ashes of a failed marriage.?The death of someone close.?Watching the agonies of aging.?Others struggling with mental anguish.?The undeserved, embroiled in vicious legal battles.?Health concerns. A friend’s bankruptcy decimating his business and family.?The sconce of loneliness so prevalent. ?

A glimpse into that sack of snakes starts before staring into the abyss of business challenges.?Will consumers spend??Will dealers buy??Will production deadlines be met? Will cash flow cover expenses? Will unexpected booby traps derail detailed strategies? Demons like to wake me at 3:30am to remind me again of such lovely thoughts. ?

I give grief a minute then lock it away before it stains anything more. Refusing to swim in the Vortex of Misery, I stand at the edge and observe.?Swimming in it sets you on fire.?That does not help anyone.

To avoid the siren’s call, here’s my defense.?I acknowledge gratefulness for my existence in this microscopic instant in geologic time.?I recognize suffering as a tool to promote wisdom, resilience and love.?Daily I grasp the abundant grace of family dedicated to supporting and loving each other.?Carefully, I count the blessings of so much wonder showering me from awesome people and experiences in my life.?I appreciate and give thanks to and for the preciousness of parents, those close, and brothers and sisters from different mothers.

In short, there are no seats at my table for thieves of happiness.

But Misery is insidious.?Trouble tries to sneak in through every crack.?Being vigilant gives it no space on the dance floor.?It’s a life hacker with a history of sabotaging lives since the beginning.?Avoiding its drowning attempts, Marcus Aurelius had it right, Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.

My Jewish pals look at the story of David and Goliath and say, yep that’s our guy. My Christian friends see a story worth telling of God’s strength through believing.

I recognize all that but love the story for something else. ?A guy who stepped up when the odds were against him, knowing that win or lose, his destiny was at hand. ?Refusing to shrink or whine, he defied the noise, confidently confirming his grit moving into the breach.

It’s said that David may have been no more than 5’ tall.?Texts say Goliath stood over 9’. ?The pride of the Philistine army, Goliath was a burnished war hero competent with countless war waging devices. David was a young, solitary shepherd with slingshot experience and 5 small stones.?Goliath wore a helmet, boots and 50 pounds of armament covering.?David wore sandals and a tunic.?Both Goliath and David’s own countrymen lobbed doubt, insults and criticism at him.?Must have been fun for David.

We know the outcome. ?It’s why the story still intrigues us thousands of years later.?It’s inspiring because Goliaths chase us every day.

Living in fear crushes ambition.?Listening to naysayers stifles the actions leading to success.?Stepping one inch toward your destiny is more fulfilling than a mile of intention.

Do we know even one name from the hoard throwing jeers at David??Nope.?Nobody cares about them.?But they’re everywhere.?Howling doubters roam every street.?Reminding you, you drew the short straw.?They’re the ones so keen to advise but so unlikely to pick up a sword.?

You hide or step up.?Reveal your greatness or not.?You’ll one day be a story to someone, choose it wisely. ?

Steven Hawking could have slipped into obscurity more easily than anyone.?He had every reason. Suffering from a motor neuron disease diagnosed in his 20s, it paralyzed him, leaving him unable to speak.

Using a computerized voice synthesizer, Hawking unraveled countless theories about our universe.?Authoring several books, including A Brief History Of Time and The Universe In A Nutshell, he shed a light of understanding on the complex fields of cosmology and black holes.

His contributions won him global notoriety and numerous accolades.?Awarded the Albert Einstein Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Fundamental Physics Prize, Hawking was also a Fellow of the Royal Society and member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.?

His inability to move didn’t stop him from his destiny. ?Hawking's troubles look like unscalable mountains, he saw them as an escape from base camp. ?Perspective is everything.?It’s the difference between becoming overwhelmed and letting fear own you or becoming bullet proof against barrages of doubt.

How do you release your destiny??Recognize that revealing your destiny defines your purpose.?We all have one.?Embracing yours unleashes the freedom to be who you are to the greatest benefit of those around you and the world.

Getting your head around these contemplations puts you on the path:

1. Trouble is a friend.?One you learn from but never invite home.
2. Without challenges your life’s story will be colorless and undefined.
3. Choosing hope and optimism makes you a beacon of resilience, putting you on the freeway of opportunity instead of on the back roads of insignificance.

Stuff these ideas in your pocket.?That way, when you meet your Goliaths you can retrieve them as weapons to win.