I know that "everything" can encompass both good and bad outcomes.
We can find a great job or spend another two frustrating months looking, see our relationship thrive or devolve into chaos, hit it big in the stock market or lose a boatload of money.
Life is really what we make of it. The possibilities are there -- we need only seize them.
But we make that impossible to do if:
1. We give up prematurely. Thomas Edison once said,"I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work. This quote, too, is attributed to the famous inventor: "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were when they gave up."
Indeed, some people draw so close to the promised land they can almost taste it -- only to wave the white flag. Perhaps they become dissuaded by a friend or relative, don't see the financial returns of a venture as quickly as they'd hoped, or lose confidence in themselves, which leads us to #2.
2. We fail to believe in ourselves. "To be a champ you have to believe in yourself when no one else will." So said renowned boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, and such sentiments have been echoed by countless scientists, politicians, athletes, and luminaries who very easily could have succumbed to fear and hopelessness when the odds were stacked sky high against them. (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Michael Jordan, and Franklin D. Roosevelt come to mind.)
3. We get wrapped up in negativity. Negative thinking plants the seeds for the prior two outcomes described above. The less we confide in ourselves, the more likely we are to become frustrated and combative -- until we reach a breaking point. As actress Shirley McClaine aptly pointed out, "Dwelling on the negative only contributes to its power."
For many of us, not knowing what will happen tomorrow can be unsettling.
But rather than being fazed by the unknown, let us imagine things turning out as well -- or even better -- than we expected.
It doesn't mean we have to be overly sanguine and oblivious to potential worst-case scenarios. But why not give it your all to achieve the optimum outcome? Who's to say we won't get there?
Now, if you reach a point where your gut is telling you that you should abort, listen to it.
But don't give up simply out of fear or low self-confidence.
You can achieve anything you set your mind to. Don't shrink from uncertainty; embrace it wholeheartedly. That big break you've been waiting for may be right around the corner.
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