By Matshona Dhliwayo
- Be positive. If things are bad, expect them to get better; if things are good, expect them to become great. You gain nothing from being negative, but positive thoughts precede positive results.
- Be adaptable. When the wind blows, a stubborn tree breaks, but an intelligent one bends. The same can be said of life: even the strong have a breaking point, but the adaptable have none. When storms come, they dance in the rain until the rainbow comes.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff. On life’s journey, there will be many obstacles along the way—some big, and some small. You cannot avoid encountering them without avoiding life. That is why, when you encounter pebbles, don’t sweat it. Just go around them, over them, and if you can, through them. Don’t sweat the small stuff, and don’t be intimidated by the big stuff either. You have what it takes to conquer any mountain.
- Surround yourself with encouraging and supportive people. If you want to successfully respond to life’s changes, surround yourself with positive people. You can go no higher than whom you surround yourself with. If you want to soar, surround yourself with eagles, not turkeys. Eagles fly above the clouds, even during storms; turkeys can’t take off from the ground, even during sunshine. The more positive people you surround yourself with, the more positive things will come into your life.
- Study the situation. When change is brewing in your life, open your eyes, and if they are already open, open them wider. To make important decisions, it is necessary to have all of the required information to make informed choices. In nature, the reason the lion is king is not merely because of its strength, but its ability to study its prey. Study the situation, and you will be able to take advantage of it, even if it is bad.
- Learn from the changes. When change comes, positive or negative, learn to mine wisdom from it; learn to grow from it. Never waste an experience; things happen in life to teach us valuable lessons we might need later on in life. Each moment is capital for the next; the more lessons you learn, the more capital you acquire.
- Become stronger. When good things happen, we become happier, but when bad things happen, it is an opportunity to become stronger. When positive changes come, smile, but when negative changes come; endure. Lifting weights never weakened anyone; lifting feathers never strengthened anyone. You are only as strong as the load you can carry.
- Read books. Chances are that whatever change you are experiencing has occurred to someone before. By reading books you are tapping into wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that took someone years, if not a lifetime, to acquire—all at your disposal for just a few dollars and a few hours of investment.
- When life’s changes are positive, rejoice; when they are negative, persevere. Challenges come to separate those who deserve to rise to the top and those who deserve to stay at the bottom. When bad things happen, it is an opportunity to prove yourself—an opportunity to succeed where others have failed and rise where others have fallen.
- Seek advice. There is always someone who knows more than you—always someone who knows something you don’t. Whether change is positive or negative, seek advice. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel unless you are improving it. Someone, somewhere, went through what you are going through and can guide you to make better decisions. When you seek advice, you are seeking success.
