26 Sep do something awesome
a while back, I was taking a dinner break from work at a post facility I occasionally freelance at. as I sat eating my succotash, I looked out the window and saw a huge dirt ramp. it was part of the construction on the 405.
my first thought was “that’s a huge jump. if the angle was a bit different, I wonder if you could clear the freeway.” that is not a normal thought… that is a thought that years of snowboarding and skateboarding have trained me to have.
when you are skating or snowboarding you are constantly looking for the “mistakes” and the “odd.” things that shouldn’t be there – or things that can be used in ways not initial intended. a cracked & buckled sidewalk becomes a jump. a planter becomes a grind box. a fallen tree becomes a log-ride. a patch without snow becomes a gap to clear.
you are constantly looking for obstacles. not to complain about how they “get in your way” but rather, to use the obstacles to “do something awesome.”
imagine if we looked at obstacles in life this way? when something goes wrong… and it eventually will, how do we turn that into a positive? instead of bemoaning that events are not proceeding exactly as we hoped/planned/wished they would – how do we take adversity and do use it to do something awesome?
it’s not always an easy task – but I’d like to think that just like with skateboarding, we can train our brains to respond to adversity with grace and positivity. and through that become stronger people – in both the good times and the bad.
a couple days ago my Mom sent me this verse from the book of Romans. I think it fits in really nicely here:
Moreover let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance develops maturity of character. And character produces joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.
the measure of a person is not how one handles good times, anyone can deal when things are going well. it’s how one handles adversity.
so the next time things aren’t going well, how can you take that situation and turn it into something awesome?
-Luke
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