Daily Inspiration 12-10-09

"We are not retreating--we are advancing in another direction."

-- General Douglas MacArthur

This is a great quote regardless of how you might feel about Douglas MacArthur because it demonstrates a different outlook on what most would call defeat or failure. It's a very good one!

I'm just a few pages from finishing rereading Failing Foreword - Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones For Success by John C Maxwell. If life has been a little challenge of late, the first few chapters of this book should help to give you some renewal in your spirit. John Maxwell says, "The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure."

In his book John tells stories of many well known people and the mistakes that it seemed that they made, and each one of them makes it clear that it wasn't so much a mistake as an activity that didn't produce the results they imagined, and yet, it was really a stepping stone toward their objective though that was not necessarily clear to them at the time.

It has been said that everyone has 20/20 hindsight because you can see the whole path from here to there. That's really kind of a good way to look at it. Pretend that you're looking at a Google map, maybe a satellite map and as you zoom out, you can see from here to there really well. Pretty soon, as you continue to zoom out, you can see where everything leads and where everything is in relation to one another. When you zoom back in all the way, you can only see what is in front of you.

Next time something happens and you think it is a mistake or a failure, try zooming out in your mind and see if you can see a different picture. For example, I've lost jobs in the past and it was the best thing that could have happened to me for a list of reasons, yet at the time, it seemed so terrible. As I zoom out and look back and around, I can see that it was a stepping stone to where I am and what I have become. And today is the same. I am on a path of stepping stones from one place to another. As I am able to zoom out enough to see more of my path, I am satisfied and excited and appreciative of where I am at the moment. It is that power to be okay with where you are that helps make where you are going next so much better.

I am not failing. I am succeeding in another direction!


I Am Enjoying My Journey!
I Can't Wait To See What Will Come Next.

Spread Some Joy Today--Try zooming out on some of your past experiences and see if you can see how great it all worked out. Try it on some happening now.