One Thing After Another Going Wrong?

How many of you live lives where it seems like one thing after another goes wrong, when you can't seem to catch a break? In this economy I'll bet there are a lot of you. Money is tight, jobs are scarce, clients are hard to come by, dollars go out faster than they come in, that great client just quit, you didn't get as much money for that last job as you wanted, and on and on and on.

Most people are programmed to remember the past that way. We are usually complainers, whining about all the problems we have. If this is you, stand up and admit it. Then stop it.

I too have had many things go wrong in my life. I could name a few of them: companies I worked for going broke, companies getting sold out, failing job interviews, a divorce, losing money, and there must be a bunch of others. You see, when I sat down to write this post, I had to think hard about what they were and when they happened. The reason is that I remember the things that went right in my life, even if they seemed to go wrong.

Here are a few examples:

When I went to college I got accepted to Pomona College, an expensive private school, but could not afford to attend. Bad news. Then I got into the University of California, Riverside and got a full ride Regents Scholarship, one of only 36 that year.  Good news. Which do I remember? The good news.

I searched a lot for my first job and got turned down in a lot of places, including selling insurance. Maybe not such bad news. Then I applied to the Fullerton News Tribune and got hired to report on night meetings. Good News.

I had a part time job with Newberry's Department Store and got fired because I didn't want to be on the management track. Bad news. A month later the Fullerton Tribune offered me a full-time job as a newspaper reporter, my passion. Good news. Getting fired from Newberry's? No big deal.

Because of problems at the newspaper in Placentia years later, I quit with no new job to go to and no idea what I would do next. Really bad news! A week later I got a phone call offering me the job of editor at the Newport Ensign in Newport Beach, a peachy job. Good news. VERY good news! Quitting that job? The best thing I ever did.

I could go on and on with seemingly bad things that had great endings. It's the great endings I remember and talk about because they are what count. The bad parts? Well, they happen to us all. I just choose to not dwell on them.

Next time you are tempted to cry about all the bad things that have happened in your life, clamp your mouth shut and try to remember the good part. It will be hard at first but eventually you will find something. Hang on to that good part, make it part of your life and eventually that bad thing will fade into hidden memory and your whole life will change from that person with a disaster of a life to that person with a charmed life.

Try it. It works.