Others Have Done It & You Can Too!

What do you do when you're faced with a challenge? Most challenges we face are a result of circumstances beyond our control.

There are two ways to face the challenge: Look it square in the eye, take a deep breath, then run and hide; or look it square in the eye, take a deep breath, and face it head-on.

I want to encourage you to face your challenges head-on. Be determined to overcome any obstacles that come your way.

Success doesn't depend on our circumstances, but on overcoming our circumstances. Here are some inspiring examples:

• Sir Walter Scott: Cripple a man, and you have Sir Walter Scott.

• John Bunyan: Lock him in prison, and you have John Bunyan.

• Abraham Lincoln: Raise him in abject poverty, and you have Abraham Lincoln.

• Benjamin Disraeli: Subject him to bitter religious prejudice, and you have Benjamin Disraeli.

• Franklin Roosevelt: Strike him down with paralysis, and you have Franklin Roosevelt.

• Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman, Marian Anderson, Rosa Parks, and George Washington Carver: Have them born black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have these remarkable individuals.

• Enrico Caruso: Make a man the first child to survive in a poor Italian family of eighteen, and you have Enrico Caruso.

• Itzhak Perlman: Have him born to parents who survived a Nazi concentration camp, paralyze him from the waist down when he's four years old, and you have the incomparable violinist Itzhak Perlman.

• Albert Einstein: Call a man a slow learner, mentally challenged, and write him off as uneducable, and you have Albert Einstein.

• Helen Keller was born blind and deaf, yet she graduated college with highest honors and impacted the world.

• Margaret Thatcher, England's first woman prime minister, was a divorced grandmother from Milwaukee.

A mentor of mine often says, "Everyone you meet has their own pool of tears they sit by everyday. Let's be kind and seek to understand."

What challenges are you facing today? Take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. Many others have faced similar challenges and have overcome the obstacles. You can too!

What are you waiting for?

Thought for the day - Wayne Gretzky, legendary hockey player, known as 'The Great One', says, 'I miss 100 percent of the shots that I never take."

Zig Ziglar, author, salesman, and one of the most renowned motivational speakers of his time, says, "The book we never write will never make it to the bestsellers list. The worthwhile product will never catch on if the prototype is not brought to completion. The relationship will never develop or be mended if the effort is not made."

Have a great day!