We’re back another week to consider, discuss, and celebrate our Freedom this Friday. Today I want to discuss the times in life when things don’t seem to go our way, and what we must do to figure out our next steps towards success. I am sure that if you review certain moments of your life, you can think of some examples when you didn’t plan for something to happen, but something had it’s own set of plans for you. You may recall a situation that was similar to my recent occurrence where you woke up in the morning later than expected and find yourself running a bit behind because you were up late the night before, and the alarm clock didn’t wake you up. Never the less you take a shower, make breakfast and continue doing your daily routine promptly to get yourself back on time. All seems well and back to normal, however as you head out of the house to get into your vehicle you are met with the staggering reality that you have a flat tire that will force you to be late for an appointment. UGH!!!…but when something like this happens what do you do?

1. Accept The Facts: The situation is or has happened regardless of what it is, and you must start from here on your road to recovery. Be patient and calm in the moment and realize that your dilemma is not the worst case scenario. If your eyes are open and you still have breath in your lungs this means you are alive and the “worst” has not occurred. Be thankful that you are able to work towards improvement, and believe in the optimism of creating positive change.
2. My message this week is directly about what we should do when things happen, because in life things will always happen. What has helped me grow personally is learning that life doesn’t always provide answers on who, what, when, where, or why things happen, and regardless of these factors what matters most is what you do when life does happen. Here are three quick tips to help you get past those things that happen to happen.

2. Evaluate The Situation: Understand what happened and work against it. If you didn’t get proper rest, go to bed earlier. If your alarm clock didn’t go off on time, make sure your phone ringer isn’t on silent. If you had a flat tire, maybe you can’t control that…but you can utilize problem-solving techniques to assist you in improving the outcome of your results. Make sure that your evaluation is focused on both considering the root problem and the best potential solution, as there is often a direct coorelation between the two.

1. Get Over It. If you spend any time on things that have happened, you continue to make them alive right now. Remember that the history of an event exists in the past, but every time you relive that history through thought it is brought to life in the present moment. This is not to say that you need to forget your past experiences, however you must learn to let go to get past them, or you will always be dealing with them.

So when life happens and you find yourself in an unpredicted situation please be sure to accept the facts, evaluate the situation, and work to get over it.  Life can be hard but fair, sad but true…sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you…but all life continues to ask, is what are you going to do?

TGIF
“Thank God I’m Free”