It is easy to be grateful and thankful for the good things we have in life. It is much harder to appreciate the bad things that happen to us.
Many years ago I bought a floor covering business. It was financially struggling and I thought it was a great chance to use my business financial skills. I found out the hard way that studying business and doing business are two different things. After a few years of financial struggle, I closed the business. I took a second mortgage on my house to pay off the debt my parents co-signed for and borrowed money from my parents to pay the taxes to keep my CPA license. The whole experience shook my confidence. On the other side – it pushed me harder to find a way to use my knowledge to get results, the results I wanted such as financial success. The ride has been smoother since that time.
A more recent event has tested my optimism with the current presidential election. I found many things that are not good. It is actually embarrassing to see what emotional level the political campaigns have stooped to; the anger, the name calling, the mudslinging, taking things out of context, and every other tactic to create fear. My first look at the situation, I see a very divisive emotionally heated environment. This environment probably encouraged many to go to the polls to vote. If I look deeper at the environment and process that has been created, questions come to mind; do we need limit how long someone can hold office to discourage personal agendas? Does our two party system give us the rights we think we have? Is our electoral vote system effective? The scariest thought I had – is will it take a war to get our society back together as one force?
My experience has taught me that things that happen to us are neither good nor bad; it’s our reaction to them that creates the feeling. So look for the silver lining in that dark cloud. Life’s good because you can handle anything that comes your way!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Mary Guldan-Lindstrom
