INSPIRATION,DREAMS AMID GLOOM

Even tragedy can inspire.
The folks of Boston, Mass., are clear proof.
They could have sat on the pity pot and said, “why us,” after the bombings at the 2013 Boston Marathon.
Instead, they reacted with resilience, inspired to not let terrorists ruin their city, their lives etc. They grieved the dead and wounded, and got right up and went after the perpetrators. They got two suspects in relatively short order.
One does not have to be a Bostonian, or a victim of a terror attack, to feel violated. A job loss, a drop in business or other economic calamities are common today.
Sure, things appear to be looking up, but if your personal situation is not improving, or may have gotten worse, it’s hard to find something that will inspire you.
Hard, perhaps, but not impossible.
In Boston, there was collective inspiration. You are looking for individual inspiration. Even a guy like Andy Bailey, who coaches entrepreneurs in Nashville, found inspiration in one of his clients.
As Bailey told it in an April 2013 column in The Tennessean newspaper of Nashville, his client emigrated to the U.S. from Cuba, knowing no English to build his own company here.
Instead of looking for folks worse off than you to convince yourself of how good you have it, look to those who’ve overcome obstacles to achieve great things as an inspiration to you. Think of this down period as just one obstacle to success.
Success is defined in many ways besides financial. But financial success makes any dream possible. Puzzled at how to achieve financial success? Visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. It’s one of the best vehicles for an entrepreneur to build success.
Oh, you’re not an entrepreneur? You’re just a “working stiff?” Entrepreneurs are just working stiffs with dreams and inspiration. It’s those dreams and inspiration that turn them from stiff to fluid. They’re fluid enough to find what will fulfill their dreams, and use their inspiration to make it happen.
Nike says “Just Do It.” Your dreams and inspiration will keep you on the right track. If you need dreams and/or inspiration, think of Andy Bailey’s client — or perhaps someone you know or know of who has beaten the odds. More than likely, you’ll find dreams and inspiration as part of his story.
Peter

CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND YOUR CONTROL

The Libra horoscope for Dec. 8, 2012, read: “Don’t waste time speculating about how you would perform in other circumstances. Focus instead on the circumstances you’re in now.”
That horoscope was published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Not everyone takes horoscopes seriously, of course. But this one has a resonating message.
It makes one think about the difference between wishes and dreams.
A wish is something you want, but usually can’t get. A wish is usually something that depends on circumstances to come true.
A dream is something a person can ACHIEVE, regardless of circumstances, if he really wants it.
A dream is usually something a person creates, along with the way he’s going to achieve it.
Circumstances are none of your business. You can’t control most circumstances. Circumstances result from things that happen beyond your sphere of influence. What takes place in your sphere of influence is how you react to the circumstances around you.
For the last three years, the economy has been in the pits. Lots of folks lost jobs. Some still have not gotten new ones. Others have gotten new ones, but at far less than they were earning before they lost their original job.
Jobs are circumstances. They do not belong to the job holder. There is no entitlement to work. Jobs will come and go, through no fault of the job holder. Some will never come back, either to the job holder or anyone else.
Job holders can’t wish for time to go backward. They have to deal with new realities. They have to face the fact that the job that took care of their lives and families is gone. It would be the same as if a hurricane, or other natural disaster, wiped out one’s livelihood, home or entire town. You may have known it was coming, but you never really know how bad it’s going to be until it hits YOU.
CIRCUMSTANCES ARE LIKE THE WEATHER
Most circumstances, like the weather, are beyond your control. When a boxer faces his opponent in the ring, he knows he’s going to get hit. He can do a lot of things to prevent himself from getting hurt, but he can’t prevent everything. And, he certainly can’t prevent his opponent from swinging at him.
We all face certain circumstances. We can’t wallow in the misery, and expect to come out better. We have to DO something to make things better. We have to acknowledge what has happened, but not be paralyzed by it. We must look at the bad, yet see the good – or potential good – of any circumstance.
If you face tough economic circumstances, solutions are all around you. You just have to look for them. Lost your job? There are many ways to make money WITHOUT having a job, and regardless of education or background. To check out one of the best ways, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau.
If you face tough circumstances, think of all that is good in your life. Let those thoughts dominate your mind. Don’t wish for things to be better. Do what you need to do to make them better. Don’t wish for circumstances to be different. You can’t control them. Establish a dream, write it down, and go about achieving it. If you focus on that, after a while, circumstances won’t matter to you. Circumstances can take away your job, home, possessions and surroundings. They cannot take away your dream.
It’s been said to focus on the things you can control. You can’t control most circumstances. You can control how you respond to them.
Peter