How to survive your own life's icebergs

"I believe half the unhappiness
in life comes from people
afraid to go straight at things."
~ William J. Locke

*      *      *      *      *      *

     I've always loved (and consistently call on) the poet Robert Frost's words and gentle reminder, that "The way out is through."

     My live was a waste of life for the first half of my life because I was living in reverse. Like driving one's car backwards across America, it was not happy or even very functional.

     Then someone gave me a book. And even though people often say, "You won't find it in books," I like to say to them, "Yes you will."

     Or at least I did. My whole life turned around because of what I had begun reading. And people who think I am selling something here, can sign up for my E-Motivators, my email messages that share with you EVERYTHING that turned me around and continues to turn me around.

     Soon I wanted to WRITE books that might help others. Like I was helped.

     Can a book really help, though?

     Here is an email I just received.... and there is a fascinating idea here that the writer Debra Stang (http://www.debrastang.net)  has uncovered about the sinking of the Titanic..........

     Dear Mr. Chandler,

     I just finished the revised edition of your book, 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself.

    One of your tips has really helped me get my business and my personal life back on track. I tend to think in black and white like a pessimist—if I can’t get an entire task done, then it’s not even worth starting. I feel foolish, but it honestly never occurred to me to stop and think about doing just part of the task or even just one thing to get the ball rolling.

     Now, when I feel overwhelmed, I make myself stop, take a deep breath, and think, “What is one thing I can do right now that will help?”

     I’ve also noticed something odd. Sometimes, I end up finishing in minutes a job that I was sure would take hours to complete. It’s like I build things up in my head to be these big, scary mountains, but when I actually face them head on, they turn out to be molehills.

     Years ago, I read an intriguing bit of history. I’ve always been interested in the Titanic and have read everything I can get my hands on about the doomed ship. One thing I read stopped me in my tracks. If the Titanic had hit the iceberg head on, instead of trying to swerve to avoid it, the worst of the disaster would have been avoided. She was built to take a head-on collision. If she had hit the iceberg that way, there still would have been some loss of life, and she still would have gone down eventually, but her watertight compartments would have held long enough for other ships to arrive to rescue most of the people on board. In trying to miss the iceberg completely, she ended up suffering a devastating wound on her side, a wound that she had never been built to survive. We all know the rest of the story.

     From now on, when I face a problem in my business, I’m going to think of that story, and of your advice. The first thing I’ll do is turn so that I’m facing the problem head on. The second thing I’ll do is ask myself, “What is one small thing I can do right now to resolve this?” I’ve only been practicing this philosophy for a few days, and already I’m getting much better results than I did when I tried to ignore issues that needed attention.

     Thank you!

     Sincerely,

     Debra Stang

     http://www.debrastang.net  

Comments

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[Kate]

Just brilliant, so clear, so easy to really see the point via this analogy. The combo of the quote and the story is perfect. Just lovely!

[Belle]

Love this! Too often we spend more time and resources trying to avoid something than if we just plowed through. The story of "what might happen" can always be questioned, a la Byron Katie.