Be Grateful for Hard Times

by Chester Elton

This may be hard to swallow, but we need to start being thankful for hard times.

That may sound counterintuitive, and yet as many of get set to celebrate Thanksgiving here in America, this is a great time to remember that challenging times like this are heaven sent to make us stronger and open our eyes to those blessings we may have been missing in our lives.

It’s interesting, whenever we interview successful business leaders about their careers, they most often begin by recalling the worst of times: when they had to overcome a seemingly impossible obstacle, when they almost lost everything, when a big bet didn’t pay off. Why are those hard times so important to them? Because they realized who they really were and what mattered most. Those were the times that strengthened their characters and helped them grow.

There was a fascinating experiment in the 1980s called the Biosphere. An area of just a few acres was completely enclosed, a potential Shangri-la. For two years, it was expected that a group of people would live in a perfect environment—an ecosystem that could later be replicated on the moon or another planet for human habitation. That was the hope at least.

After a time, the researchers noticed that the trees they planted were starting to topple over. Why in a perfect environment, with plenty of water and nutrients, would the trees not stand? The conclusion: there was no wind. The trees faced no adversity, nothing to test their roots and challenge their growth. In the absence of hard times, they could not stand.

I got some great advice recently from a friend who said that in hard times, rather than asking “Why me?” we should be asking, “What am I supposed to learn?” That produced a change in attitude that has served me well. I now try to take what could be debilitating situations and turn them into opportunities for development. I remember that the headwinds in life serve to make me stronger in the long run.

In a recent interview I conducted with John Strelecky—an author, ponderer, and traveler—he talked about using these trying times to get ready to launch to the next great adventure in our lives. He said it’s okay to dream and to be ready for the time when we can travel again, to meet again, to engage with colleagues and friends again. He said we should think not in days and weeks, but in minutes. We should engage the minutes we have each day to enjoy relationships and look for ways to improve our skills and talents. I love that.

John’s comments remind me to take a few minutes in-between Zoom calls to engage with my wife and kids, to let them know how much they mean to me, to express my love to them. I use my minutes to read a few pages of a good book, to ponder or meditate, to read my scriptures and pray, to reach out to friends in need and let them know they are not forgotten. Minutes matter. They matter even more when things are hard.

As we approach this season of Thanksgiving, when it seems there is precious little to be thankful for, my advice is to remember that these difficult times are forging us into the people we need to become. And for that, we can be grateful.

Chester

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Thursday, Nov 26th - HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Thursday, December 3?Anne Grady?- Keynote speaker on resilience and leadership. Anne is author of Mind over Moment: Harness the Power of Resilience. ,

Thursday, December 10 Dorie Clark?- Duke & Columbia Business Prof; Ranked #1 Communication Coach; HBR Author; Top 50 Business Thinker in World - Thinkers50

Thursday, Dec 17 - Holiday Edition. Chef Mark Eggerding, VP of Brands at US Foods and author of "Mastering the Sales Recipe" is going to show Chester how to make a great holiday appetizer.

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- Have a happy and safe holiday season! The best is yet to come!

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