Before the Dawn

"The lessons I learned from my biggest failures 10 years ago are the very lessons that people now pay me big amounts of money to help them overcome and achieve." – Vic Johnson

Before the Dawn

We just finished 2018.  The 8 in that date is significant.  It is significant for a couple of reasons.  First, in 2008 the world faced one of the largest financial challenges in history.  Second, almost every single person had the opportunity to learn life changing lessons as a result.

Napoleon Hill said, "Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of equal or greater benefit."

Here is the thing, we all have the opportunity to turn failure into success, to turn adversity into lessons learned, challenges into resolve, but it's up to us to see the vision of possibility and have the faith and resolve to get back up and keep moving toward our goals. And when we do that, it is guaranteed that we’ll have something of great benefit to share with others.

I was sitting in an office tower, the other day, carefully reviewing the details of a very difficult business transaction when my friend Kyle Christensen came in to share some information with me.  We sat talking comfortably, so I took the opportunity to lift my burden by discussing one of my current challenges.  He’s always been kind enough to give me good, level headed counsel & he could tell I was in distress, so he encouraged me by quoting a common saying as a way to quickly shift my thinking.

“It’s always darkest before the dawn!”  He said.

It is a simple saying to be sure.  And, it reminded me of what Vic Johnson and Napoleon Hill also taught me in their books.  So, I’ve spent the last couple of days remembering conquered challenges and then recounting the lessons I’ve learned as a result.  And, you know what?  That little exercise changed my whole mood much more quickly than the time it takes to conclude a decade!

We just finished 2018.  The 8 in that date is significant.  It is significant for a couple of reasons.  First, in 2008 the world faced one of the largest financial challenges in history.  Second, almost every single person had the opportunity to learn life changing lessons as a result.  And, you know what?

The lessons I learned from my biggest failures over the past 10 years are the very lessons that have yielded seeds of equal or greater benefit!

One, Amazing Miracle

“I want to thank everyone for the well wishes, thoughts and prayers for my son and our family.  He is home and recovering well.  The outcome and prognosis could not be better.” – Brian Gottfredson

One, Amazing Miracle

We were in a large, two-tiered theater.  The seats were comfortable and I had a great view.  There was a presenter at the front of the stadium and I could see him well.  I could also see the other participants well.  And, to tell you the truth, I spent more time looking around at the other participants than I did the presenter.  Perhaps it was because I had a larger connection with them.  And, one of my strongest personal connections was sitting to my left and down one or two rows.

Brian Gottfredson caught my eye and I looked at him carefully.  There was something different about his face.  No, it wasn’t that he had shaved, or had a black eye or anything.  He simply looked different.  So, I studied him as I listened, right up to the end of the multi-hour-long presentation.  The presentation’s end was my cue to approach him, so I walked over and began to talk. 

Brian is a man with deep passion.  And, I could see that the passion had been replaced.  No.  Not replaced.  His expression somehow reflected look of total commitment, sadness, concern, hope and weight that had never been there before.

“My son had cardiac arrest.”  He seemed to almost whisper to me, as we conversed around things of suddenly declining importance.

“Your son from Alaska?” I responded in disbelief.

“Yes.”  He said, just before he recounted, perhaps, the most miraculous story I have ever heard.

His son, with a friend, was gliding out to ski the back country at one of Salt Lake’s Resorts as soon as the area opened, when he dropped to the ground in a heap.  As you can imagine, his friend, with little medical training had no idea what had happened or what to do.  Now.  Consider the chances of three people right behind them, doctors and nurses, who immediately began CPR, called for a sled and ambulance while getting and keeping blood and oxygen moving continuously through his body!  What are the odds?

“They got him to Intermountain Medical Center, diagnosed the problem and fixed it!”  Brian said.  “I’m on my way to meet with the doctors at the hospital right now.  My son is in great shape and healthy, so for him to go into cardiac arrest was the strangest thing!  Now he is asking, ‘Why me?’”

“Perhaps he would be better served by asking a different question?”  I replied.  “What can I learn from this experience?”

“Or, isn’t life fragile and can change at any moment?”  Brian said thoughtfully.

One more thing, I’ve thought about, over and over again, is how Brian’s whole world shrunk throughout this experience, and how Brian’s whole world expanded throughout this experience!

Brian, rightfully, dropped almost everything to be at his son’s side during his time of need.  He comforted his son’s wife and little boy.  He focused on his own wife.  That’s the new look of passion I could see in his face.  It was a look of total commitment, sadness, concern, hope and weight focused on his small world.

At the same time, Brian’s small world was expanded beyond his focus.  Perhaps I can demonstrate such expansion by allowing you to read the email he sent to those he works with.

“I want to thank everyone for the well wishes, thoughts and prayers for my son and our family.  He is home and recovering well.  The outcome and prognosis could not be better.”

Brian and his family are living their miracle!  They see it.  They feel it.  And, many others are doing the same!  It’s as if we’re all in a large, two-tiered theater.  The seats are comfortable and we’re all enjoying a great, miraculous view.  Brian’s son and family are at the front of the stadium and we see them for the miracle they are.  Brian’s family is seeing us, the other participants, that have expanded their world as well.  And, to tell you the truth, I think they are spending as much time looking around at us in a new, more connected way.  Perhaps it’s because we all, now, have a larger, stronger connection due to one, amazing miracle.

Turning Snow Into Frosting

Trudging through the snow.

Turning Snow Into Frosting

“This is trudging!” I said as I began to walk slowly with heavy steps, while quickly becoming exhausted because of the harsh conditions.

It was cold!  The snow was deep!  And, that caused the walk through my field to be truly laborious, making the quarter mile walk feel almost overwhelming at times.

“I hate having to trudge through this field of snow twice each day!”  Reoccurred through my thoughts on a continual basis.  Then, over time, I began to notice little things that revealed big rewards!

The ache in the muscles of my legs disappeared and new, healthy muscle definition began to show.  Then, the pain I felt in my left hip, when I slept, left my body.  These benefits to my trudging also combined with other, smaller things to give me a different outlook.  Now, I find myself still trudging at times, but not through snow.  Now, I trudge through frosting!

Yes!  difficult and exhausting conditions, while hard to deal with at first, magically provide you and me with directly relatable benefits which are all too often overlooked because of the sole focus on our labor.  And, perhaps we can all live happier, healthier lives by simply adjusting such confined focus.  It’s as easy as turning snow into frosting.

Challenges strengthen our bodies, character and spirits.  They cause us to grow in neglected, previously unknown areas in life.  When you’re feeling overwhelmed and exhausted because of the harsh conditions you face, make sure to stop and examine the ways you’ve benefited as a result.  Then, keep recounting those benefits as a source of strength.

Personal strength gained through trudging can also allow you and me to become empathetic and nurturing.  Have you ever noticed a draw toward other people who have shared experience?  Many things in life can never be explained, or totally prepared for, without experience.  No one gets experience or additional strength without trudging!  And, certainly, no one is prepared to nurture others without having trudged the course.  Sharing the course is what offers us a path into what it means to be called the human family.

Being part of the human family goes far beyond a sharing of flesh and blood.  It speaks directly to sharing experience and labor, serving one to another.  It is trudging along through life together, sharing the pain, education and triumph that makes us one with each other.

“This is trudging!” We’ll as we begin to slowly understand how the exhausting, harsh conditions of life can allow you and me to no longer live lonely, difficult lives. Yes, life can be cold!  Yes, life can challenge us with deep snow!  And, that can cause our shared walk through life to become truly laborious, making even one hour, or day feel almost overwhelming at times.

“I’m becoming stronger in body, character and spirit as a result of sharing pain, education and triumph with those around me!” Is the reoccurring thought repeating through our minds, on a continual basis, as we come to appreciate the true nature of trudging.  It is this one key thought that opens the door for all to begin to notice more and more little things turning into big rewards as a result!

The ache in our hearts will be tempered and often replaced with new, healthy mental and spiritual muscle. Then, the pain we’ve felt before will give way to allow us to become a more empathetic and nurturing people.  Recognizing the benefits of trudging through life will also combine with other, smaller things to give you and me a different outlook.  One that I’m sure will help us, as we find ourselves still trudging at times, but not through snow.  We’ll be trudging through frosting!