Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 51 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Suck it Up and Deal With It

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. Each day I will provide you with bite size nuggets of wisdom that if consumed and applied will become a part of the very fabric of who you are.  As with any significant changes in life, these changes will take time, but the changes that result from this wisdom will start to take root and grow into a large and solid tree. This is Day 51 of our Trek, and today we are going to look at how to deal with those issues of life that are thrust on us, especially when we have little or no control over them.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Being able to work from our newly renovated office on the 2^nd floor is a real blessing.  The new large windows provide a nice view to work from.

After spending the last nine days focusing on how changing your thinking can dramatically change your life, today we are going to put this newly learned information into practice.  So, let’s break camp and head out on the trail.

As we are hiking along with our new knowledge gained from our twelve waypoints, our plan is to make use of this knowledge on our 20 mile Trek today. The first part of the trail is going rather smoothly, and we are making great progress. We find a nice clearing and break for lunch before heading out again.

Suddenly, we see dark, ominous-looking clouds on the horizon in the direction that we are heading. But, we must move on towards our destination anyway.  As we continue on, the wind picks up and starts to blow dust and twigs at us. We don’t like the looks of what we are heading into, but we press forward.

Soon the rains starts – small drops at first, then larger, and then sheets of rain start plummeting at us.  Before long, it becomes much more difficult to keep solid footing, but we continue forward. As we head down into a ravine, we hear and then see a rush of water from a flash flood about 100 yards in front of us.  It completely obliterates the trail that we are supposed to take.

Now what do we do? We don’t want to go back, as that does not lead to our destination, but now we can’t go forward. At this time, we don’t have a safe trail in front of us. It is time to panic, to give up, and to wish we had never headed out today. None of those options will help, and so it is with life sometimes.

When we run into these unforeseen events, we must put into practice all of the thinking skills that we just learned last week.

Crises and hardships are a part of everyone’s life and some of them are unavoidable.

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I have lived enough years to realize that the crises, for many, are certainly inflated due to past unwise choices that have been made.  Some people like to live in continual drama because it gives them a certain sense of purpose, attention, or accomplishment by having something to combat.  I see this in personal and business interactions frequently.

Regardless if the crises are self-imposed or completely out of your control, how you deal with the issue is your choice.  The tools that we gain each day on Wisdom-Trek will help to navigate life when it becomes treacherous as in our story today.

None of us are immune to crises, whether it is health-related, financial, relational or otherwise. Some crises can be inflamed by our own decisions in each of these areas, but others may be completely out of our control.

On a personal/business level, we have recently experienced two such storms.  Due to the lack of sales for one of our clients, they were not able to retain our services on a monthly basis.  Within a month of that, another client that is in the oil and gas industry was hit hard by the 60% reduction on crude oil and natural gas prices over the past twelve months. While we will maintain servicing this client, based on our collaboration with him, we have agreed to a 60% reduction in our fees, at least until the oil and gas industry recovers. These “storms” in our business life were both outside of our control and in two completely unrelated market segments.

We have experienced enough business cycles to understand that these issues will happen and to prepare for them. Likewise in our personal lives. We know that there is always sunshine after the storms. With pre-planning and by God’s grace, a construction project in Arizona that has been in the planning stages for three years has finally been approved and construction is beginning this month, so that will help some. And, Paula and I have planned diligently to make sure that we do have options and choices when these tempests of life do hit.

So what are our options when the storms of life do strike?

1. Give up, throw in the towel, and grovel in the fact that life has done us wrong. We can retreat and head back to a life that was unsatisfying but safe.
2. We can become paralyzed with fear not wanting to advance forward and being too scared to go back. We can resolute that once out of this storm, we will never take a risk again.
3. Or, we can Suck It Up and Deal With It…If we plan, knowing that life does have its ups and downs, its sunshine and its storms, its pleasure and its pain, then we can plan during the good times so that we can weather through the bad.

Now on the third point, Paula says that Suck it Up and Deal With It was my motto when she and our kids ever ran into issues. Now, I don’t recall saying those exact words, but that is certainly the impression that was ingrained in their minds. It has become somewhat of a joke between us now, and I do believe I am becoming more compassionate with age and wisdom.

Joking aside, though, we do need to deal with life as it is, not as we wish it to be. If we are having difficulties in our lives, here are the steps we need in order to handle the storms.

1. We must first analyze our situation to see if our current problems are based on the choices that we have made. If yes, or even partially so, then learn to make wiser choices in the future
2. Plan now and during the sunny times, so when the storms do come, you will be better able to handle them.
3. Realize that after every storm, the sun will shine again. Rejoice during the sunny times, and then based on your planning in advance, dance in the rain.

As we plan how we are going to get out of our predicament that we experienced at the start of today’s Trek, I will leave you with these encouraging words from the Apostle Paul’s’ letter to the church in Philippi chapter 4 verses 4-8, “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!  Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Well, that will finish our podcast for today. If you missed any of our previous podcasts, please check out Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Wisdom-Trek.com. As we continue our Trek tomorrow, we will figure out a way to move forward on our trail, realizing that there are no guarantees in life.

So, please join us at our “camp” tomorrow for another day on our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you enjoy our daily doses of wisdom, I encourage you to help us in the following five ways:

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The journal from this podcast can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com, where we also have pictures, tweetable quotes, wisdom nuggets, and free resources.

As we take this Trek together let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy the Journey, and Create a Great Day! See you tomorrow!