I think it's important to focus on gratitude. A lot.
Let me re-phrase that:
It is CRITICAL to focus on gratitude.
This is what helps us through the dark times, the times when we're not really sure how we're going to get past whatever 'challenges' we may have. (If you know me at all - you know that I ALWAYS use that word for any difficult event)
Two years ago was a very challenging time for me. I broke my arm very, very badly, which is a tough thing to go through. AND I've been a drummer for 24 years! When it happened, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. "Will I ever play drums again?" was a question going through my head every 12.7 seconds! I was scared. In pain... LOTS of pain... until the drugs kicked in. Then it was mostly the uncertainty of my future.
Fast forward two years. I'm doing great. I can't straighten my left arm, or 'supinate' (turn it palm-up all the way - yet). But I'm playing drums, and in some ways, better than ever. This challenge has forced me to change some things that I used to choose to do while playing, which has been a great learning experience that I otherwise might not have gone through. My ego may have prevented me from 're-learning' some beliefs about drumming and music. Had I not gone through this 'accident', I might never had gotten some really important lessons. I'm grateful for these new ideas!
While I might not be grateful that I broke my arm - it does still hurt sometimes, and it gets uncomfortable when I sleep - I'm very grateful for what it has taught me. I'm grateful every MOMENT I GET to play! Are you? Do you feel immense gratitude for whatever you GET to do? Think it through...
But this is the part we all need to remember: Situations are either something we can learn from, or they can pass us by without any thought to the value. I actively participated in the process by asking my most famous question: "What's GREAT abut this?" Tony Robbins' teaching of this question in one of his books, was, and continues to be, one of the most empowering tools to dealing with whatever comes to me. Big and small. It's a choice. A choice we get to ask ourselves almost moment to moment.
So do it - ask the question. Remember to thank a situation, a person, a life-lesson... for something that is being presented to you. If you do, you'll be able to grow in ways never imagined.
