My friend Jeffrey and I were talking one day about this and that when he said, as much to himself as to me, I think, “What is it that separates confidence from hubris?”

I replied, “The outcome.”

“That’s it!” Jeff gasped through his laughter, his head thrown back as tears began to inch toward his ears. “If you succeed, it was confidence. Fail, and it was hubris.”

I’ve never been sure why my answer gave Jeff such pleasure, but isn’t it great to see a friend laugh uncontrollably?

For the past 30 years I’ve lived

with my finger on the pulse of business owners.

I know the rhythm of their heartbeats.

I know what raises their blood pressure.

I know what puts them to sleep.

I feel the thump, thump, thump of their hunger for success.

I know the storms that rise above them.

I know the rains that fall.

And I know what keeps them moving.

Time and Chance are variables beyond our control.

Money and Love are fuel.

Time and Chance affect the flow of Money and Love.

But Money and Love have no effect on Time and Chance.

I’ve always been simpatico with the writer of Ecclesiastes.

I think I understand him. He said,

I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift?

or the battle to the strong,?

nor does food come to the wise?

or wealth to the brilliant?

or favor to the learned;?

but time and chance happen to them all.

Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:

As fish are caught in a cruel net,

or birds are taken in a snare,

so people are trapped by evil times

that fall unexpectedly upon them.

It is not my goal to bring you down or give you melancholy. I hope only to broaden your perspective. I want you to enjoy this adventure called Life, regardless of the scenery that surrounds you. You made it here. You exist. You’re alive. How cool is THAT!

We choose our destiny with every choice we make.

We create our reality with every action we take.

And Time and Chance happen to us all.

Roy H. Williams