You Must!

In December of 2002, I was “downsized” right out of a very good job with a large company. (I was also working a part-time job in the evenings when I got the news that our department was closing. My boss at my part-time job did me a huge favor and let me come on board full time.) Literally overnight, I took a 49% pay cut, lost all health insurance and benefits, and had to start all over in a new career. In May of 2009, I was fired from another good job (which I really liked) because I answered a question wrong. Nothing illegal. Nothing unethical. I just answered a question wrong, and six days later, I was fired. I was informed that because of what happened, the company needed to make "organizational changes." (Apparently that is some kind of corporate code for “We really have no reason to fire you, but you’re leaving anyway.”) Life is not fair. I know that. But are you going to sit around complaining about the unfairness of life, or are you going to take responsibility for your future, get back on your feet and move on? The choice is yours. Your future is in your hands. Life may hand you all kinds of things, but it is what you do with them that makes the difference. Mike Murdock, another of my favorite speakers, once said, “You don’t drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.” You can be or do or have or achieve whatever you want. Just make up your mind to do it, and know that your future does not depend on someone else. If you get knocked down, get up and get going again. Abraham Lincoln said, “First let us determine that the thing can and will be done. Then we shall find the way.”