Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in our own “stuff,” isn’t it? Everyone has “stuff.” No one gets through life without some adversity. I believe it’s how we deal with the adversity that defines us. Do we react? Or do we respond? There’s a difference. Reaction is emotional. It’s visceral, or knee-jerk. Response requires thought—and often, a lot of willpower. In all of life’s situations, it behooves us to respond rather than react.
Whenever something horrible happened to me (and there were some really icky things, the details of which are not necessary here), Dad would tell me that how I responded to this would define who I am for the rest of my life.
He said, “Sometimes ya gotta walk through fire to prove who you are. You’ve been through more than anyone should have to, kid. Prove you’re bigger than all of it.”
My life’s journey has taught me beyond a shadow of a doubt that what happens to you in your life is not as important as how you choose to respond to what happens to you in your life. Things happened to me. Some horrible. I survived. It didn’t break me. I am bigger than all of it.
We all have “stuff.” It’s your choice whether that stuff breaks you or makes you stronger, giving you the foundation you need to be empathetic with others as they go through their stuff. Significant leaders find a way to use their stuff to the benefit of others. Prove you’re bigger than all of it.
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