I took the title of this post from author Paul Stoltz in his book “Adversity Quotient”. It captured my attention when he asked a large group of people 75 years old and older if they thought it was tougher living today or was it tougher living when they were growing up? I think in my own mind I totally expected the answer to be that it was tougher in the old days when they had to walk to school in the snow with a potato in their back pocket uphill in both directions. Surprisingly, the group answered that they felt today was a much more difficult environment to be living and raising a family. Most agreed that the pace of life was much too fast today and left very little time for family or other important activities.
As evidence of the rapid change in our society Dr. Stoltz referenced two national surveys of school teachers to make his point.
Top Problems Reported by Teachers in 1940:
- Talking out of turn
- Making noise
- Running in the hall
- Cutting in line
- Dress code violation
- Lingering
- Chewing gum
Compare that to the Top Problems Reported by Teachers in 1990
- Drug abuse
- Alcohol abuse
- Pregnancy
- Suicide
- Rape
- Robbery
- Assault
Dr. Stoltz went on to say that we are facing a “crisis of hope” in our society today and that life is hard and getting harder.
Keeping Hope Alive
In the aftermath of the recent violence against an elected official in Arizona last week there have been moments where it seems that there truly is a crisis of hope in our nation. Fortunately for us, hope is not dictated by events or circumstances. Hope is a choice. It is a decision we make each day as we decide what outlook we will carry into our day.
“What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Here are a few tactics I am applying in my own life to ensure that each day when I rise that I take the maximum amount of hope and positive attitude into my day:
1. Remember where my hope resides – as a believer in a higher power that controls all of life as we know it, I start each day with the acknowledgment that God is in control. For me to think that I have to, or even could control life’s circumstances is a false belief. It is His and I recognize that early and manage to it often.
2. Stop the negative flow of information – I am turning off the news. It occurs to me that these organizations dont’ get paid to bring me the positive and uplifting (although they sneak a story in every now and then to make it seem like they do). The vastly overwhelming majority of the stories that come from local and national news sources are negative and have a negative impact on my outlook. I subscribe to a breaking news feed on Twitter that keeps me informed if anything major is happening. And it alerts me without commentary or photographs.
3. Be an encourager to others – I find that any feelings of hopelessness or negative attitudes usually are the strongest when I am focused on me and my environment. If I can lift up my head and look for ways to interact and encourage others I find that I take on a much more positive and hopeful outlook.
4. View adversity as opportunity – Olympic skater Scott Hamilton said, “Everything that I’ve ever been able to accomplish in skating and in life has come out of adversity and perseverance.” We truly are in the age of adversity and life can indeed be hard, but I know for me, I rarely have great success in life without enduring adversity and setback along the way. Every adverse situation is an opportunity to grow. Embrace it.
I will have more to say in coming weeks about facing and handling adversity in your life to ensure success and growth. For today though, I just want to encourage you to see challenge and adversity in a positive light. Endure it. Embrace it. Learn and grow from it and you will be well on your way to a successful life.
Question: How do you avoid or eliminate negative thoughts and feelings in your life?
Dedicated, now there is a word that is easy to overlook. Someone asks are you dedicated? Dedicated, why yes of course I am dedicated. What’s next? Whoa there, not so fast Skippy. Dedication sounds so simple, but it is definitely not easy. Thanks to a recommendation from my son I am currently reading the Tim Tebow story in his new book titled, “Through My Eyes”. Tebow was the star quarterback for the Florida Gators football team and today plays in the NFL for the Denver Broncos. Being a University of Georgia graduate I was trained to hate Florida and pull for anyone who played them, but how could you not admire this young man Tebow. What really jumped out at me from his story was his complete dedication to what he was trying to accomplish. From the very early years of his life, no matter what sport he was playing, he dedicated himself to growing, developing and being the very best he could be. Average or mediocre are never words you could use about Tim Tebow. And not just in sports. He exhibits a high level of dedication in everything he does.
