Everyone knows that life isn’t all roses.  There are ups and downs of varying degrees. That is part of life and it’s not as if the universe picks you out of a lineup and decides it’s your turn to have bad things happen. 

That’s the first job we have when things seem a bit bleak.  We can have the infamous pity party that I recommend. But remember that you have to put parameters on that party. Give it a time limit and a list of invitees. You don’t need to show the whole world what a sour mood you’re in.  

Once the designated time limit is up, stop pitying yourself. It’s time to move on.  

Next pull up your boot strings and make the statement in this quote. Own up to having the problem even if you didn’t ask for it. And tell yourself (and the whole world if you’d like), that you can face it and you will.  

This takes courage but Standing up to adversity will let the universe know you’re willing to face this and it will infuse you with courage. 

You will be surprised at how you become able to face this trouble once you take a stand that you will face it.  Don’t back down.  Listen to Tom Perry’s “I won’t back down” on YouTube for inspiration.  

I’ve been sitting with this idea for two weeks now – since I dropped from the race. I put pretty much everything I had into the past year getting ready for vol state 2026. After all, I had something to “prove”.

All that time. All that effort. And for what? I didn’t even come near finishing the race.

Was it all wasted? I’m not totally sure yet. But I don’t think so.

Sure I wanted to finish the race. I thought it might be my last. And i certainly wanted to show that my cruddy finish in 2025 wasn’t because of my age but because i made a mistake.

The most important thing I can do is figure out the lessons that came from that year of obsession, not to focus on the fact that I didn’t succeed. If I can ferret out the lessons, there will be sustained value regardless of the outcome.

What did i learn from the process? What progress did that process (or processes) make? How can i, or have I, apply these lessons to everyday life? All that we gain and learn is much more valuable if it’s something we can apply day in and day out, not just once.

I need to dissect the year and pull the nuggets. That will make the effort worthwhile no matter the outcome.

How can you apply this in your life? What have you learned as you’ve plodded and plotted in your attempts?

What a great way to say that you should be proud of little “accomplishments”, no matter how tiny.

What is important is to be continually working toward becoming a better version of yourself. It’s not that hard to do and as with all change, the smaller the steps, the easier it is to keep the change going.

Why are small steps good? For a lot of reasons. A small step is easier to grasp in your mind. It’s not so intimating that you hold your hands up and say “whoa. I can’t do that”.

For instance if you want to start a walking program, your small step could be putting on shorts or shoes or maybe even “gasp” both. OR it could be just opening the front door and stepping outside. That’s it. You can give yourself a gold star. And do this for a few days in a row and see what happens. What’s the next small step you end up taking. If you’re still stuck at step one, come up with another tiny one.

Small steps are often so small that no one else will recognize it as something important – other than you of course. That should remove a lot of the fear of judgment. You know. The “What will people think” or “what will people say” phenomenon that takes over your mind instead of the joy of trying something new.

Pick out one thing you think would make you a better person. Perhaps it’s giving at least one compliment every day (sure you could say “I should give 50 compliments a day” and maybe even that would be great- but what’s the probability you’re going to do it every day?). So stick to one.

Or maybe you ultimately want to stop complaining. That’s too vague a statement. How can you make it doable? Maybe something like “the first time I start to complain today, I will say “stop” and pause for a minute. During that minute analyze what you REALLY were complaining about, what you were feeling, what you secretly were wanting. All those thoughts and feelings that lie behind your complaint. And Just once is all you need as your aim for the day.

Once you’ve decided, write it on an index card or a piece of paper and put that in your kitchen by the first thing you go to – Perhaps your coffee pot or cup. Or maybe your refrigerator.

The point is to see it early in the morning. Read it and put it in your mind. Then go about your business.

See what happens. I bet you’ll be surprised at the results.