Resiliency First

By Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net

The natural and man-made disasters this year have been historic. Haiti, the tsunami that nearly made it to Hawaii, and then, of course, the immense tragedy in the Gulf. Now, it’s the Chilean miners who may not get out of their underground “dungeon” until Christmas – yes, Christmas!

While all of us are withstanding the body blows of our own challenging world, these disasters put life into an eerie but somewhat familiar perspective. The folks in the Gulf and Chile are going through horrible circumstances out of their control. On a much more personal scale, many of us have had our own tsunami fighting to keep our confidence, self-esteem and appreciation for ourselves above water in this economic perfect storm.

In starting a new speaking business worldwide, there are some days my confidence wavers a bit. I don’t get things accomplished as fast as I want, or I don’t always see the possibilities in front of my face. But then I think about those good folks in Chile who have life and death issues to worry about. Then, my perceived challenges are not so great after all.

It can be very difficult to worry about confidence or self-esteem as fantastic folks like us try to find their next great work adventure, or hang on through the next round of layoffs. While the economic outlook looks a bit brighter these days, I have talked to many friends who do not always appreciate the special person they are. Sometimes I don’t always appreciate the good person I am.

But then there are so many people in our great world in a much more serious state. To keep everything in perspective for me, I have developed the SEAC (pronounced SEEK) method, and it has helped me a great deal with perspective.

I highlighted this in a previous article earlier this year but thought I’d revisit it with the world and personal/career challenges many of us still face. Because what I’ve learned, and one I hope you will think about, is that if life gets away from you too much, your ability to do anything will be seriously compromised. Whether it is the Gulf, a mining accident, a tsunami, finding your next great work adventure or trying to stay afloat at your current job, SEAC can help all from becoming derailed.

SEAC stands for Self-Esteem, Appreciation and Confidence. Each morning, I spend no more than 20 minutes – the same as my exercise routine – to “exercise” my psyche a bit. I find actions I have taken – most likely from the previous day – that help me appreciate myself and how I can seek to maintain my confidence and esteem.

SEACing Resilience: Admittedly, some days are harder than others to find those resilient trigger points. I, however, look at my whole life – not just my professional existence. While SEAC may be about work, it could be that I had a resilient conversation with my 15-year-old daughter, which can be one of those amazing and wondering things. (Dealing successfully with teenagers is whole separate article for another time.) Or, it could be I was able to help a colleague or friend through his or her own challenging professional or person moment.

Despite the world challenges I’ve mentioned, my point is you need to find something in your life that keeps showing the terrific person you are known for every day. Your actions tell a resilient story, and SEAC may help show them – to yourself!

Appreciate, Appreciate, Appreciate: A friend of mine forwarded me a memorable quote recently from life solutions expert Mary Manin Morrissey that sums up SEAC very well. It goes:

“Appreciate yourself. The next time someone pays you a compliment, don’t shrug it off or put yourself down. When we push away acknowledgment of our divine selves, we can’t amplify the good that is trying to move through our lives. We can be humble and still accept praise. Accept that others are seeing the true being within you. Take pleasure that others recognize your true identity. And give the gift of a compliment to someone else.”

Next time you want to stay in bed because of challenging moments, you get down because of world events, your son/daughter has one of those teenage moments, you forgot to say “I Love You” to your spouse, or you don’t see the goodness of you, please remember: SEAC ways to find how your special talents make a difference to you and so many others in your orbit.

A Confident, Resilient You: Sure, their are world and personal events that we cannot always control – or sometimes understand. One thing you can always control is yourself. Successfully managing your attitude, values and how you relate to people will get you through those moments of despair, indecision or “why has this tragedy happened in our world.”

Just want to say Godspeed to those courageous miners in Chile. Our prayers are with you!

Look forward to talking with you again next week! Please e-mail me if you anything to add, or would like me to cover additional resiliency topics. Again, stay tuned for my new resiliency e-books coming very soon to this web site.

By Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net

While most of us are tremendously resilient, that doesn’t mean we can always avoid disappointments sadly derailing our sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. It’s how we dust ourselves off and get back up that enables us to continue our successful journey.

Take me, for example.

At a hotel work conference awhile back, I fell and smacked my head against an unforgiving marble floor. Unfortunately and fortunately, my lifelong physical disability (Cerebral Palsy) has offered me many life moments to fine-tune my resilience.

I was taken to the emergency room with a couple of my valued work colleagues at my side. All I was thinking at the time was – not about my health – but that I just fallen in front of dozens of my colleagues. What were they going to think except to pity me?

Then, my inner resiliency voice – that we all have – said: “Don’t worry about what others may think. You need to focus on yourself, stop feeling disappointed and use the resilient strategies that have helped you succeed in life, These include adaptability, focusing actions you can control, not dwelling on negatives, persevering and staying patient.

I was ultimately O.K. But what my colleagues said afterward, I will never forget. They said: “We did not feel sorry for you, Steve. We were amazed how adaptable and resilient you are in life.”

Wow! Talk about turning a very disappointing and embarrassing work moment into something truly special.

I don’t highlight this personal example to tap into your empathy. It does show how any of us – despite circumstances that may be quite disappointing on the surface – can stay resilient at work and in life.

How are you bouncing back from a disappointing work or life moment? Have you dusted yourself off or are blaming life/others for youe conrinued disappointments.

A professional example: I was flying high at my employer until the current economic crisis hit. I was called “essential” and a “rock star” as a corporate communications executive – which I passionately loved to do. Then, this great company imploded and eventually laid off nearly 90 percent of its valued employees – including me!

I was extremely down, heart-broken and very disappointed. I had done everything right but it ultimately did not matter. I’m sure many of you have gone through similar challenges.

But instead of wallowing in my disappointment, I tried to focus on what I could control. I developed a personal business plan, looked at my personal brand very hard, and had a “heart-to-heart” with what I truly wanted to do for the rest of my career at age 50.

That’s when – instead of blaming life, the government or others – I used my lifelong resiliency to humbly inspire others. I developed a blog/web site and now have written more than 80 career and life resiliency articles  surpassing 2 million hits in a little over a year. I developed a successful business out of writing and speaking to corporations, groups and individuals about why resiliency is so important to all of us.

I’ve also wrote many resiliency e-books and am getting a hard copy resiliency book published very soon. Additionally, this includes leading an international resiliency study with doctors and professionals worldwide. More to come…

My initial disappointment has led me down a new and successful road by using my strengths as a writer and speaker. Are you letting a disappointment or two dramatically affect your life in a negative way? What are you doing about it?

I have definitely been there. But this time I vowed it would be different. And it has…

I truly think many of us spend too much time on what we could have done, or thinking about our perceived personal and professional weaknesses.

That gets in the way and we start spinning not knowing where to turn – whether employed or not. These disappointments get to us.

To stay resilient in these challenging times, all of us need to focus on our strengths as a person, spouse, parent, friend and co-worker. This is especially true for many of us who have been seriously affected by recent layoffs.

Adapting to new challenges always means looking at ways we can be a better person and locking away disappointments to find a more healthy solution. Focusing on the past and any weakness(es) you see in yourself will diminish the fantastic person that you are everyday.

That is why this week I encourage you to lock away your disappointments and think about one strength you see in yourself and how this positively affects your life. In fact, when you wake up in the mornings this week, let’s all try to remember this strength and the good people that we are.

Resiliency and adaptability means sometimes putting disappointments and the past in perspective, and creating a sense of future hope. Identifying your strengths will highlight the terrific assets you bring everyday to yourself, family and friends.

Try thinking of yourself as a closer in baseball. This pitcher is usually asked to get the last three outs of the game. Some days he pitches great and the game is over. Other times, he might give up a grand slam homer and lose the game.

But he is usually asked to get right back on the mound and close the next game despite his previous day’s disappointments. If he let the disappointment get to him, he may never be able to succeed as a close again.

All of us have our share of life disappointments. It’s how we dust ourselves and get back in the game that can make the successful difference.

Highlighting our strengths will allow each of us to tackle the variety of daily issues and disappointments we face – and the uncertainties that inevitably get in our way.

Stop letting disappointments rule, and make a healthy difference for yourself!

I’m so appreciative of your continued support. Very humbly, it has helped me on my resilient journey.

By Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net

Our lives and careers are very serious business. We go about our days with stout determination that success will definitely stay with us. That is, if we only work that extra hour, finish that project way ahead of schedule, or continually focus on completing task after task until their completed – no matter what…

No matter what, you say…isn’t there something else in life to shoot for?

National studies show having “fun” in your life is extremely important to our health and is sometimes a missing ingredient for many of us. One study suggests that “not finding the time away from the office,” could dramatically hurt our successful career and life path.

The message I suggest you think about and one I haven’t always followed: if you don’t step away from the office awhile, turn off the computer after the 50th job application filled out, forget to kiss your spouse, or love your wonderful kids and pets, you could become burned out and have out-of-control stress.

None of us want that – no matter how focused we are on our careers or other passions in our lives. To stay resilient, happy and fulfilled, we need to enjoy life and find those “sweet spots” that make us happy.

I say this because I need to hear it. In starting my own motivational speaking business, I have spent 60 to 80 hours a week at least thinking about work in some way or another. While each of our circumstances are unique, you also may be thinking about work as you sip a tall cool one. Or, you are at your son’s baseball game physically but mentally thinking about work – or finding your next great work adventure.

Why is that? I’d love to get your comments. From my view, it is at least partially because our world now lives through a 24/7 news cycle. We are nearly always a click away from checking e-mail, or trying to finish that report online, or finding something about anything. All of us are connected through the Internet, smart phones, etc., etc., no matter if we want it or not.

I think this “24/7 lifestyle” we lead helps us always stay too focused on the serious business of life and career – as we forget to take a deep breath or two. We don’t do this intentionally…there’s just a lot of serious stuff on our plate and fun can wait.

Well, it can’t unfortunately.

Another national survey showed that stress levels of those employed or looking for work are off the charts these days. Again, we are in serious times, but when was the last time you went to the lake and skipped rocks across the water’s surface? Had a quiet brew with a friend at a coffee shop with your phone and computer turned off?Set aside time for yourself and maybe finish that jigsaw puzzle that’s been on that card table downstairs for what seems like years?

Or, even more importantly, setting aside time with your significant other to do something fun and spontaneous for just the two of you. Maybe going to an antique shop? Staying for a night at a special bed and breakfast? Or, holding each other’s hands watching the sun set?

A healthy resilience is not just being in “your serious mode” all the time.

Fun can be a very unique experience. I suggest spending the next 15 minutes listing some of the fun you could be having if you weren’t so involved with your career or business. Then – tonight – share it with your significant person and ask the person to jot down a few bits of fun.  Share and find additional ways to stay happy and fulfilled. Come on, do it – for your sake.

For me, my fun is spending time finding antiques with my wife – with my iPhone off. Or, going out for a quiet dinner at a place we’ve never been to before. Or, cuddling with our two dachies or “weiner” dogs and loving them without worrying about my next e-mail message. Or, traveling to some exotic place and walking on a secluded beach where there is no Internet. Can you imagine that?

I’m not an old-fashioned guy, but I think we need to simplify and have a bit of fun for our health’s sake. Right now, I’m going to turn off my computer and phone, and take a ride in my boy toy – otherwise known as my Mustang GT. My “pony” and I are going to park next to a lake and watch the gentle waves as my spirit is refreshed.

I suggest you need to find your own fun and “sweet spots.” And, guess what? By allowing yourself time for such things, you’ll be more energized and successful with the more serious and mundane parts of your world.

It is amazing how your world can change if you incorporate fun back into your life…mine sure did for the absolute better!

Please be looking for new video vignettes and e-books on resilient strategies for you on my web site very soon. I also will be adding an additional national radio interview I did in the last couple weeks.

Thanks, again, for your support and take care.

I have been having Internet access challenges the last couple days since a severe thunderstorm hit a couple nights ago. My ISP provider will be fixing it by late Tuesday.

I will post a new article after that. Sorry for the inconvenience…

By Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net

Sometimes you have to take a calculated chance or two in your life and career offering a new/different way to use your unique and tremendous talents. The key for me has been to not always settle for what’s easy but open a little-used door or two to find what my potential could really be.

What about you? How have you tried to unlock your rusty-hunged door or two to find your true life gifts?

When I was laid off last year and not focusing well on which way to turn, my mental resilience and confidence were at a defining crossroads. I was let go from a company imploding from the economic crisis, but which had said I was “essential” and a “rock star.” I was working on all cylinders at a corporate communications executive position that allowed me to use my writing, speaking and interpersonal skills to truly make a difference for employees.

So what did I do wrong? Well, absolutely nothing! But my mind – at least for a moment or two – could not figure this out. Whether in your personal or work life, I know you’ve been down that road once or twice.

After some intense personal reflection, I thought of various directions to go. I could continue to feel sorry for myself and spin like a top not knowing which way to turn. I could continue to exclusively seek jobs in my chosen communications field that have proven to be very successful for me in the past. Or, I could look at my personal brand very hard and have a “heart to heart” with myself about what I wanted to passionately do for the rest of my life/career.

That’s when I decided to develop a personal business plan to use my range of talents in a more unique way and not just settle for the jobs I’ve had in the past. Consequently, I have very humbly developed my own own very successful worldwide resilient speaking, writing and consulting business.

My web site – http://resiliencyfirst.com – has surpassed 2 million viewers in a little more than a year. I am amazed, lucky and so gratified. I also will be leading a team of worldwide doctor and professionals on an international resiliency study. I’ll tell you more about that in upcoming weeks…

If you are in a similar career or life-changing situation, I suggest not always settling for what comes up or what you know you can do. Find a way to use your unique abilities to give you the opportunity to give you what you want.

You might say: “Steve, that’s easy for you to say because you perfectly fit into your new resilient world. You are naturally resilient because of your successfully  adapting to your lifelong physical disability (Cerebral Palsy), and your noted speaking and writing talents.” This, of course has helped…

To be honest, though, I am no different from you. In fact, you may have much more talent and potential than me. I have just understood my “chance,” and formulated and acted on a plan to make it a success. I also did not settle.

The word “settle” is not one of my favorite words when it comes to my career or life – I hope it is the same way with you. As we successfully navigate through this challenging economy, many friends of mine have had to settle for a new job they may not have necessarily taken if times were better. Other friends have had to settle for a deteriorating work situation with cuts at their company by as much as 75 percent.

Don’t get me wrong: Folks need to do whatever it takes to stop or avoid collecting unemployment checks. But settling can open up an entirely different can of worms when it comes to your confidence, belief in yourself and your passion for the future.

The lesson I suggest you ponder is what I’ve learned: Please don’t think you don’t have options – your skills and strengths have made you very successful so far. Find a way to take advantage of your situation whether you are employed or still looking for your next great work adventure. Take that calculated chance.

Too often in the past I’ve sold myself short and taken what I could get. I am 50 now, and I know it is time for me to re-look at what’s best for me.

What is truly best for you?

There’s no way you want to stay or accept a dead-end job, and spend the next few years lamenting how your skills are not being utilized to the fullest. As my resiliency example shows, you need to stick to your strengths, carve out your unique role and make a difference for the most important and terrific person in your life – You!

This calculated chance and belief has given me new life, direction and confidence over the last year or so. I know you can have the same success. Please just believe that you are so much more special than you always think  - that is, as long as you BELIEVE!!! Then, you won’t have to settle for a life and career controlled by other folks’ agendas.

Taking a hold of your life and not settling also will have an amazing consequence. Folks at work and in your personal life will see your confidence as never before. And, guess what? You’ll start seeing yourself in the same light. Wow! See what not settling can do for you…

I ask again: Are you taken a calculated chance or two in your life now offering you a new/different way to use your unique and tremendous talents? Unlock your tremendous potential and take a chance in yourself….

Until next week, thanks so much for making my blog one of the top resiliency and career/life advice sites in the world.

I encourage you to visit BizzyWeb.com. My great web-design guru friend Dave Meyer has so much to offer you as a business leader or individual. His latest is a fantastic eBusiness Fast Track seminar providing tools for you to create innovative online marketing programs. Check out: eBizFastTrack.com for dates and times.

I have produced 12 new video vignettes about how my life resiliency lessons may help you overcome a few bumps in your road. You’ll see them soon on my this site courtesy of my great video friends at Location Images/iDreamTV – http://www.idream.tv/. Check them out…they are fantastic!

By Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net

All of us have been there. We did not get that job we have been pursuing for months. Our boss does not fully appreciate the concept of work/life balance as you ask for some time off. A family issue has taken an unexpected turn requiring more time than you expect. Or, we are having one of those low confidence, not-believing-in-ourselves type of days.

Yes, life does happen and not always the exact way you expect. One of the main differences of those of you who successfully get through such daily challenges and many of us that let such events get to us is a realization of what’s within your total control.

Even a resilient guy like me – with ramping up my resiliency speaking/consulting business worldwide and successfully adapting to a lifelong physical disability (Cerebral Palsy) – sometimes believes I can control more than I can. While I have been humbly very resilient and successful in my career and life, I want to use my talents to be control of everything I do on  a daily basis.

Like you may do, I become impatient with myself if something does not go my way that I feel I can control. But these moments are times when I am probably in situations that are not totally within my control – like wanting my teenage drama queen daughter to do something but she does not. Or, realizing I can’t control my aging body without now needing a cane at certain points.

And I think that’s the lesson I always have to remember, and one you may want to think about the next time an action personally or professionally does not go exactly your way.

A study showed that more than 95 percent of our professional or personal actions are not in total control by us. We think so. We want them to be. And when they are not, it can cause us to lose a bit of our resilience that day. If we let these perpetuate, they can cause us to truly beat ourselves up unnecessarily.

Since we are human, all of us always try to control more actions than we can, but I have found that there are really only three things you can truly control in our lives.

They are:

Attitude - How do you deal with situations that don’t go quite as you expect? Do you get too down when your daughter/son does not fully listen to you, or you are find no luck with companies despite sending out 100 job applications, or you feel like that life right now is not given you an even break?

It’s not easy to always stay resilient, but if you let your attitude about your life and career peak and dive like a roller coaster, your world could go spiraling downward at times. I could, for example, let my physical disability get the better of me – especially now that I am 50 and my body is breaking down a bit. But I try to keep my attitude at least on an even plane by understanding how lucky I am to be able to walk and live a great life.

How is your attitude when life actions don’t go quite your way, or you feel unnecessarily burdened by trying to understand the “fairness” of life?

I bet if you step back a bit from life’s everyday challenges, your attitude about yourself will increase because you will then see how cool you really are. And those around you would notice your gleam!

Values - Do you value yourself? The people around you? Sounds so basic, but these type of values will determine how you are seen in this world. This is something that you can ultimately control.

What values are you teaching your children? How are you being an example to them and others. Again, such values are within your total control…

How do you relate to others – In today’s resilient world, this is becoming even more critical. Nearly everyone’s success these days is tied to establishing productive relationships. Just think about the work front: A recent survey showed that nearly 90 percent of jobs are found – not by just filling out applications – but by networking and getting to know people.

The success of my worldwide resiliency business is directly because of networking and the business relationships I successfully make. How am I being seen, how do I connect with others? This is all within my control.

Do you think about how you are relating to people professionally and personally? I contend this is one of the most important reasons some good folks like you are staying successful in these very crazy and tragic economic times.

Over the next week, I suggest you look at your attitude, your values and how you relate to people. Understanding where you are with all three can help determine where to turn on a road that may be a little less bumpy. As I sometimes have to rethink my life, it will also provide you the right track to stay in control of actions important to you and stop beating yourself up.

Such reflection has been a very health exercise for me, and I know it can be the same for you…

Until next week, I hope you are staying resilient!

By Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net

Believing in ourselves. Sounds easy. Of course, Not a problem. Well…maybe not always.

As all of us deal with our ups and downs in life, maintaining belief in ourselves professionally and personally can be a bit challenging.

Whether it is the boss at work giving you an unreasonable deadline. Your spouse or significant other giving you that steely glare after one of those whirlwind discussions. Or, you just feel like things are not going your way in these hard economic times.

With all that happens to us everyday in this increasingly changing world, consistently believing in ourselves can be very hard.

I am back at work now running my own speaking and writing business about resiliency – and loving it. But I was laid off a year or so ago from a company I planned to be at for the next decade. The fantastic company imploded when the economic crisis hit its full stride, and nearly all of the 2,200 employees – including me – were looking for our new great work adventure.

I stopped believing in myself for a time because I had done nothing wrong. I was labeled as a “rock star” in the organization and an essential component leading the corporate communications brand. Then, pow, it was gone. I had done everything right, then…

It certainly can set you back. Many of you might have had the same experience, or you are in a job that does not fit your skill set. At least I had a great family to support me and an idea. Instead of thinking a corporate communications executive job is what I had to have, I stepped outside myself a bit and did three things I suggest you think about. I:

- Developed a personal business plan.

- Looked at my personal brand very intensely.

- Had a “heart to heart” with myself about what I wanted to do for the rest of my career. I was 49 and did not want to just settle for something I’d probably leave in a couple years.

So, as you should do, I looked at what I could passionately offer – great writing and speaking. But what could I write and speak about that great folks like you would find value in listening to… What is your work passion?

That’s when I developed this career and life resiliency blog and have never looked back with more than 2 million hits over the last year or so. I initially did the writing to keep me “healthy,” but found y’all resonated with my perspective. This has led me to speaking worldwide and publishing hard cover and e-books very soon.

Now, if the perfect corporate position would come up, i might take that and still provide resiliency advice as my service to all of you. There is nothing better in this world than giving something back to a world that has offered me so much.

What does this have to do with you?

Well, I used many resilient strategies – such as adaptability, using my strengths, perseverance, persistence and patience – to keep me on a successful track. You can do exactly the same.

The next time a work or life challenge hits you across the face, I suggest not going down the rutted road of the blame game – government, your employer or even fate. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and stay in the sometimes complicated game.

I could have easily gone down the pity road and, to be honest, there are still days where I can swerve on that path for whatever reason. Because I have a lifelong physical disability (Cerebral Palsy), my increasing creakiness sometimes gets me off the paved road.

But I suggest not letting obstacles get in your way of forgetting about the good person that you are. No one is better in your world. Believing in myself has kept me walking, basically doing whatever I want and being successful in my very rewarding career.

I have not let a few bumps and sink holes stop me from believing I can stay resilient and do wonderful things – for myself and others.

Just keep believing in yourself, and most of the pains in life will eventually go away. And then you can see – as I ultimately have – the belief that you can do most anything in this great world….if only you believe.

I hope your summer is treating you well, and looking forward to talking with you again next week. Please stayed tuned for my e-books release date coming soon. I also will have more info about my soon-to-be published  career and life resiliency book. Take care.

by Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net

I think too often we don’t give ourselves enough credit as we try to successfully navigate the currents of our professional and personal lives. We just look at the setbacks and sometimes discount the resilient and positive decisions made everyday.

An example of mine: Because of my physical disability (Cerebral Palsy), I have fallen hundreds of times in my 50 years and struggle to sometimes get back up without too many people noticing. Instead of worrying about image and people seeing me, I should always be very, very thankful I can still walk – whether it is with my cane or independently.

I typically do, and my attitude is to get up and walk for as long as I can. But I sometimes – like any of us – dive into the murky waters of lost confidence and even depression at some points in my life.

What are you thinking about at this point in your life that has you a bit on edge? Yes, come on, all of us deal with such chasms once in a while. Is it your job? Lack of one? Your personal relationships? No matter what they are, I have found that your attitude is absolutely key in helping swim through potentially menacing currents to see clearly what is truly important in life.

How have you swam through the currents in your orbit? I’m sure nine times out of 10 you have made the right decisions and found a successful way to deal with life’s stresses. Unfortunately, we sometimes needlessly worry about the one instance.

I could very easily live off of society’s sympathy and understanding. Instead, I have tried to use my disability as a rallying call for myself to attempt to help others worldwide who are struggling with their own challenging currents. I am humbled that my worldwide web site and speeches have resiliently affected so many from Saudi Arabia to China to South America and the States.

By talking with each of you openly about my life and career resiliency challenges, it has taught me to accept myself for who I am. This same lesson can be applied to you the next time one of those professional or personal “currents” sweep you off the course you expected.

While some of you are doing great in this economy, other good folks have had economic waves tip over their boat – so to speak – with little or no fault of their own. As I have found with age and physical disability, however, some of the currents you can’t control, but you have to navigate and steer your way through the best you can.

That’s why attitude is so important. I would not have thrived without knowing I am not going to give up my walking independence without a monumental fight. I’ve been so lucky to have a very successful career, and a truly wonderful wife and family. I have rarely settled for anything. To this end, I suggest you never settle for situations you know are right or you can have influence. You can have a resilient effect on your attitude every single moment of your life.

I sometimes walk with a cane now, but a friend so beautifully told me recently to never give up the attitude that I may not need the cane in the future. She was absolutely right, and I am now not resigned to adapting to less independence. Some day I will walk without a cane again. My attitude is revved up.

Are you revved up about yourself? Where is your attitude about you these days? Do you believe in yourself? I truly hope so because there is no better person in your life than you!

Take care of yourself, and you’ll be able to navigate those unwanted currents in your life.

Thanks, again, for helping me become a humble voice of resiliency worldwide. Until next week…