More Timeless Truths

1. No difficulty will leave you where it found you.

Make no mistake, how we handle that difficulty says a lot about us, or you. That difficulty found you, now, what are you going to do about? How will you face it, explain it to others, or even to yourself? Ignoring it will not make it go away. But don’t act or take an action without thinking first. Thinking always helps us focus correctly on the right path for dealing or correcting the difficulty. There are a lot of difficulties in a person’s life. “How” we deal with them, “How” we face them” is a direct reflection of our character. Lightening in a bottle may happen, but its never exactly what you think it is. Thinking the solution through matters. Then take the best course of action to correct the difficulty. Don’t let others do it for you or you could end up with regret.

2. Good Fighting Generals are not made in peacetime.

Some fail to check their perceptions at the door and think they always have the answer. Many top ranked generals at the beginning of each war have been replaced. Fighting Generals took their place.

Some Generals find excuses for everything. Don’t be that person. Not all Generals know how to lead, they just know how to bark orders that mean nothing or accomplish nothing. Business executives are in the same boat, some are not leaders and can’t move the company forward.

In order to really be a “Leader” you must first learn to serve. Only by serving can you hope to learn how to properly “lead” people in the right direction.

True gifted Leaders reconize that aspect of true leadership.   When they lead, they are really serving others toward reaching a goal. What is that goal: Winning, Victory, Profit, Expansion, and Sharing the Spoils.

Remember Julius Caesar? He did what he was not supposed to do, cross the Rubicon River with his Legions. His Legionaries knew this was against Roman Law. Yet, they went with him! Why? Because during their many trials and battles, Caesar slept with them, fought by their side, ate what they ate, lived how they lived. He served them, then lead them to many successes by serving them. That is heady stuff and it became legend.

Jesus led the twelve disciples and others. He served them as he served all mankind. Because he served them, they followed him and he was unquestionably a leader and others who saw him, saw his works, witnessed his “nature of serving others” hailed him. Jesus was a leader, by serving others. And even today, Jesus is hailed as a “Leader” by half the world. By first serving, he became a revered leader. Why? Namely because he knew his disciples would be asked later to go out in the world and be “servers” who would act as teachers and follow that server/leadership model.

3. Challenges have a shelf life…press on through!

Life is full of challenges and not one of us can avoid them. They are many, so when do we know which challenges to undergo? Well, use good sense to start with. If you can’t climb a twenty-foot rope, then you may want to condition your body so you can. Or just don’t take on that challenge. Challenges have a shelf life, pick the ones that are appropriate for you and your focus. Focus is everything when meeting a challenge.

Yet, if that challenge is there and you want it, then go get it! It’s not going to be there all the time. A great example is a young athlete who plays football. That is a challenge that has a short life span for everyone. Some quit when high school is done, others when college ends, and a very few who make the pros, quit after a career. So, if you like to play football, that challenge does have a shelf-life, even when you are young. Older people can’t meet the challenges for playing football. Pick challenges carefully and understand if you are capable in meeting them. A lot of life is timing.

4. Your crisis is a comma, not a period. Adapt-Improvise-Overcome.

Winning is the Goal and it is the only goal worth having. If you first don’t succeed, then “find-a-way” to have success! Remember the maxim: “If you war, war to the Knife and Knife to the Hilt!” Your goal is to win, there is no other goal. Either you succeed, or you don’t.

Find a way to win that crisis in your life. Adapt, improvise, and then overcome the problem. Sometimes, there is a crisis that must be left to sort itself out, just make sure its not sorting you out because you won’t check your perceptions of yourself at the door. Step back, step away, and judiciously look at the crisis from another advantage point. Be ready and willing to adapt, look for a means to improvise, and then figure out how best to overcome the issue. But always remember that every crisis cannot be solved by you. Some factors may not be controlled by you or in your best interest. You may have to be prudent and just leave it be.

5. Seek out new challenges as they bring balance to the heart and strengthen your character.

Trial and tribulation strengthen who we are inside. If life were always easy, we would never learn to adapt ourselves and problem solve. Think of being a cave man. Who among us could really meet the challenge of living like they did eons ago? How many today could challenge a tiger or lion for the left overs of a kill? Not many.

Yet, we did meet that challenge long ago and moved on to the next challenges of building a home rather than living in a cave. Challenges change all the time and all of us have to welcome them as they make each of us stronger. As it has been said, what doesn’t kill us make us stronger.