Tag: Decisions

Failure or Success

Successful people sometimes fail despite how hard they tried.

Unsuccessful people fail because they didn’t try at all.

Random Thinking

Do you think everything happens for a reason?

What’s strange about this question is that many people don’t believe in any sort of supreme being, but they believe everything happens for a reason, which suggests that someone is in control.

Confused yet?

Then add to that the fact that, if everything happens for a reason, there’s no point teaching our children to be careful when crossing the road, or using knives, or carrying scissors. After all, if everything happens for a reason, then we have no control over it.

Interestingly, many do believe in a supreme being, God, and that his sayings are recorded in the Bible. One of those sayings, recorded at Ecclesiastes 9v11 is, “time and chance happeneth to them all.” In other words, he does not control everything that happens to us. He gave us free will. And accidents happen.

We like to think that everything happens for a reason because, when accidents happen, we don’t want to be held responsible for our actions; we want to blame someone else.

Because the truth is that things often do happen for a reason; for the reason that we made a choice. All our choices have consequences, whether good or bad. And we need to stop trying to find someone else to blame and start taking responsibility for our own choices.

Never Give Up

What’s a promise you made to yourself that you’ve actually kept?

I’ve always had a reputation as someone who doesn’t give up when things get tough. That hasn’t always been the case. But I’ve always said, “Don’t tell me it can’t be done because that will only challenge me to find a way to do it.” And in trying to stick to that, I’ve achieved remarkable results, even if they weren’t earth shattering.

But that habit kept me going when my wife passed away, leaving me to raise two foster children, both under ten years of age. Many people thought I would give up. But sitting down to dinner with them, today, nearly nine years later, I haven’t given up. And I don’t intend to. I’ll stick to the task, hopefully until it’s finished. And if I don’t get there, it won’t be for lack of trying.

What Counts is How Often You Get Up

What’s a chapter of your life you’d title “The Hard Years” — and what got you through it?

It’s easy to think about hard times. And it’s easy to give in to them.

But the reality is that it’s not the hard times that we have to worry about. It’s what we do about them.

Because it’s a true today as it’s always been. It doesn’t matter how many times you fall. What counts is how often you get up again. And only you can do that.