A thought by Zig Zigler, from his book, Better Than Good (p. 64). Thomas Nelson, Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)
Yes it is but the but is very important.
Zig says, "But the greatest races in life are not those where we run, skate, sprint, throw, or sell more than the next guy. Those are circumstances—some wins, some losses—that serve as mile markers to tell us how we’re progressing in the real race: that of developing the kind of character that will produce the 'better than good' life."
He goes on, "It’s a mistaken notion to believe that happy people are those who experience one success or victory after another while unhappy people experience just the opposite. Research shows that happy people and unhappy people tend to have very similar experiences in life. The difference is perspective: unhappy people spend more time thinking about life’s unpleasant events; they become introspective and self-centered in their thinking, and thus in their living. Happy people, on the other hand, take life’s events in stride. They have a positive worldview that allows room for disappointments and failures along the way. They seek out and depend upon facts that bolster their perspective on life; they are outward focused and centered on others."
He continues, "Knowing whether someone has recently suffered a personal tragedy or personal success is not a good predictor of how satisfied he is with his life. People who have experienced similar life events can wind up with nearly opposite responses. Take job promotions, for instance. Did you know not everyone is happy when promoted in his or her job or career? Sounds strange, but it’s true. Positive-thinking people are excited when they get a promotion because it means new challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities—not to mention more financial rewards. But people who don’t have a positive perspective, while loving the increase in salary, groan at the likelihood of new responsibilities and challenges. They think it’s going to be longer hours, later nights, and a disruption to a lifestyle with which they had grown comfortable. In a group of people, the same event will reveal a difference in perspectives on life.
"When something disappointing happens to people with a positive perspective on life, they view it as an exception to the rule. For those people, the rule is that life is good—it’s a great adventure full of possibility and reward. So when a setback occurs, they view it as an exception that proves the rule: 'See, the fact that this rare downturn has occurred proves that, the vast majority of the time, life is good!"
He then says, "But when that same reversal happens to people with a negative perspective on life, they view it as confirming what they already believed: life is basically a disappointing experience, a string of defeats interrupted only by the rare glimpse of victory. They believe those events confirm that they are losers, destined to stub their toe with every step they take.
"To put it another way, positive people don’t react to life; they respond. Responding is positive; reacting is negative. Think of the word reactionary. What image does it bring to mind? It’s someone with his heels dug in, someone in a defensive posture, someone who strikes back. But a responder is one who engages, one who takes the offense, someone who reaches out rather than striking back."
And I want to be a responder, don't you?
Yes, yes!
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