Tags
attitude, challenge groups, Chris Brady, George Guzzardo, mental fitness challenge, Orrin Woodward, the-life-business, the-team.biz
As I sit and write in a vulnerable state I can’t help but think about the meaning behind certain struggles. Last night at our Challenge Group in the-life-business we discussed the topic of Attitude in Orrin Woodward’s Resolved book used in the Mental Fitness Challenge. The video and discussion questions really helped our teams re-frame our attitude on how we perceive struggle.
This morning I had coffee with a leader in my team, Matt, and he had shared some very recent news with me that was far from positive. He just received notice that the job he had been at for 8 years as a general manager was being taken from him. Normally when I sit down with people and hear these stories it is less than favorable. But this morning went completely opposite. Matt has always been a person with a positive attitude and this meeting was great confirmation! Not once in the 2 hour discussion did Matt digress to the negative. In fact, every topic we discussed was positive and Matt even said that losing his job was a ‘blessing.’ Now how often do we hear that in this economy? He says that now he can focus on the ‘big rocks’ in his life such as faith, family, fitness and following (LIFE/TEAM). Matt has been reading, listening and associating with the-team.biz community for over a year and I am so proud of the growth he has had in all areas of his life. What a great example of re-framing a negative situation by making it positive and finding meaning and purpose in the struggle.
While Matt is a great example for us to follow, it isn’t always that easy for us to re-frame our thinking about certain struggles. I have found myself more recently being backed into a corner with my struggles. Sometimes the only thing I can do is sit in the corner and pray for guidance and healing in my struggles. But the fallen woman side of me just wants the struggles to go away; as if I can just sleep it off and tomorrow everything will be okay again. But I am sure you would agree with me that it never works that way. In the moment it is extremely difficult to see the purpose and the meaning behind the struggle but eventually it is revealed to us.
Please take a moment to read this short story about finding a purpose in every struggle:
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.
One day a small opening appeared.
He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours
as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole.
Then it stopped, as if it couldn’t go further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly.
He took a pair of scissors and
snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon.
The butterfly emerged easily but
it had a swollen body and shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch it,
expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge
and expand enough to support the body,
Neither happened!
In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life
crawling around.
It was never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness
and haste did not understand:
The restricting cocoon and the struggle
required by the butterfly to get through the opening
was a way of forcing the fluid from the body
into the wings so that it would be ready
for flight once that was achieved.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through life without struggles, it would cripple us. Struggles make us stronger and more adaptable to change and resistance.
In the struggle…
I asked for strength…and God gave me difficulties to overcome.
I asked for wisdom…and God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for prosperity…and God gave me brains and energy to work.
I asked for courage…and God gave me obstacles to conquer.
I asked for love…and God gave me troubled people who were needing help.
I asked for favors…and God gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted…but I received everything I needed.
I often have to remind myself that the struggles only get bigger on the journey to excellence. So welcome the struggle; for eventually you will discover it’s purpose and meaning.
Blessings,
Kristen
Kristen, You are becoming a leader of leaders. Your article has some powerful points about attitude and struggle. It should be comforting for all of us to know that leaders like you are out there. We just have to find them. God Bless, George
Thanks George, I don’t know where I would be without your mentorship and friendship! Thanks for being the ultimate example of taking negative situations and always making them positive!
Hey George: We here in Wisconsin sure are proud of this young lady. there is no doubt you and Jill have had a big influence in not only in Kristen’s life butmany of us here in southeastern Wi. Thanks for your leadership. –Bill–
Kristen, you always seem to post the right thing at the right time! Thank you SO much for your example and your leadership. God bless!
Bobbie
Keep on trekking Bobbie, the valley’s are only temporary! Thanks for your post 🙂
Kristen, thank you for another amazing blog! I to lost my job last week of 12 years to restructuring but after the shock wore off (about an hour) I realized that there’s so much more I could be doing! I am so blessed to be able to be a part of LIFE cause without it I know my attitude would have been completely opposite then it was: excitement! I now get to help so many more people now that I don’t have to go to a JOB every day and with the Financial information we have learned from this business we don’t have to worry about my lost wages! God Bless-Stephanie
It’s so neat to hear the stories of re-framing our attitudes during difficult times. You too are a great example of taking a perceived negative situation and making it positive. Keep leading Stephanie!!
Kristen: Thanks for sharing Matt’s story. On a personal note I look back and find it was in times of struggle I grew spiritually. Gold is made purer in the fire so too are we made stronger in the fire of advirsity, Thank God for those who stuggled to show us that victory lies beyond our struggles.
Awesome Bill! I love this comment 🙂 And so true it is! Thanks for your continued wisdom!!
Kristen-
Thanks for sharing Matt’s story and your own thoughts on the struggles of life. I know that we all have “low points” in our lives, but your post was a real encouragement.
I am reminded of a quote from Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks,
“I think that sometimes the difference between winning and losing, success and failure, is this gray line between will, passion and self-belief that says, ‘I’m going to do this’.”
So I pray that you, me, Matt, and the rest of the team prepare ourselves for life’s wins and sucesses: let’s agree that “We are going to do this!”
Keep the Faith
Wow Cliff! What a powerful quote! You are spot on with your comment. George Guzzardo is a great representation of will, passion and self belief and charging forward despite the obstacles saying he ‘is going to do this!’ I know we are going to do this and make a big impact! I’m proud of your courage and rascalinity & looking forward to the journey with you and Debbie!
Cliff: Great insight totally agree with you on this one. Great having you as a team mate. Let go make a difference. Blessings –Bill–
Kristen,
I’ve been following your blog for about a month now after I heard you briefly speak at the last Major in Ohio. Congrats by the way! I’m a Musketeer and have been for 2 months now. As a fellow educator, I just wanted to thank you for a piece of my inspiration from LIFE. Without people like you to lead the way we would be lost. Also, I just posted this on Orrin’s blog and thought you might find it faster here: I call it…Inspiring the Students of Life
As an educator in the field of history, I feel all too often that our current public schools are failing our future generations…and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get better anytime soon! It’s as if we, as teachers, are told to “dumb-down” the material so the masses of students can understand it. We do this through standardized tests in which the student has to memorize facts and then regurgitate them back to us by filling in the correct circles. Wow! You see, the problem here is that not only do many students NOT understand the material, but I’d say the majority don’t even comprehend the material nor understand how to apply it to their own lives. I’ve witnessed this first-hand and this is terrible. It has to change! As Orrin Woodward said, “The problem with the prophets to the masses today is they immediately start with a dumbed down message that only exacerbates the problems rather than solving them. Anytime one styles his message to the masses, it gets dumbed down to the point where it no longer contains the kernels of truth needed to fuel the remnant. Think about how much in education, leadership, politics, etc., has been dumbed down. In most cases, the real issues aren’t even addressed because the majority of the people cannot comprehend them. Is there any hope for America and the West if we continue to dumb everything down? ”
I believe, as does Orrin Woodward, in a revolutionary counter-proposal — What if we inspired the people to learn and grew the intellectual capacity of the people, rather than forcing the people to learn and dumbing down the message for the people? This model has been proven to work for me already. It’s what I do in my classroom and it produces successful results. I mean, even Hollywood movies’ gets this one right, as messed up as our media is. I googled the “Top Ten Inspirational Teacher Movies” and here are a few I’ve found, in no particular order: Dead Poets Society, Freedom Writers, Stand and Deliver, Precious, Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester, Dangerous Minds, The Karate Kid, and Coach Carter. Here is the usual scenario: the teacher believes in a group of students, who don’t believe in themselves. Then through tough love and encouragement, the students start to believe they have some value. Usually the teacher is transformed in the process, as well. These movies are all great and they all share “something” in common — they ALL inspire not require!
As a current teacher (for now…I will be financially free in time), I try my best to allow my students to THINK for themselves by allowing my students to incorporate the information by relating it to their lives…through simulations, class debates, persuasive and opinion essays, and historical skits. Of course, not everything in school can be related to oneself, but most things can…if your opinion is encouraged and you’re allowed to think for yourself! I don’t think I am the only educator who thinks this way either. I know for a fact that Oliver DeMille’s Thomas Jefferson Education is very close to what I use, if not exactly the same! But getting back to the movies, they’re inspiring because in most cases, the teacher has made a difference in the lives of his students and that is why teachers teach, isn’t it? Deep down, every teacher hopes to make a difference in some way, shape, or form in the lives of his or her students. So here’s Orrin’s challenge — What if we did this across America, Canada, and eventually the world? What if we started to change the world one student at a time? Through one classroom at a time? What if…this worked? What are your thoughts?
-Jeff Taff
WOW Jeff!! First of all I want to thank you for your comment! I love when someone takes the time to write their thoughts out like this. That is the purpose of blogging. You express what’s on your mind about things that are important to you with the hopes of inspiring the audience.
I completely agree! Just as you said about the movies and your own teaching style as it relates to ‘A Thomas Jefferson Education,’ we are called to teach students how to think, not regurgitate information. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what it happening in our education system today. The education system isn’t developing leaders for the next generation, it’s barely designed to give students the job skills to make it in the real world. The former district I worked at changed their grading scale to basically a ‘no accountability/ no responsibility/ no discipline’ type of scale which meant that students who went through that program would not learn those above things necessary to ‘make it’ in life. it’s so true how the movies do play a role in showing that a difference can and should be made in education. But, as Oliver DeMille said, many teachers are handcuffed by a system that isn’t allowing for creativity. I believe unless you are a rascal, such as yourself, very few teachers will crawl out of the box, let alone leave the box so they can really educate the masses and make a difference.
In your closing question, I would say that we are already making strides in changing the world one student at a time. With the edge series and bringing this leadership information into teachers lives (who are the influencers in the schools and students lives) I believe LIFE is making strides to fix some of the issues that are happening in education. While it doesn’t seem like it is happening fast enough, I believe that as we go to 1,000,000 people we will see major breakthroughs in education and the future generations leadership capabilities. But it is our responsibility and it already seems as though you are doing this in your classroom and eventually the ‘world’ as your classroom.
Thanks again for your leadership and courage to make a difference. It is so refreshing to read things like this and know that there are people really doing what it takes to bring leadership back to the masses. (and please find me at the next major and introduce yourself, I would love to meet you). God Bless!
You bet! Thanks for the positive words Kristen. Part of what you said struck me. I’m from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and reside here now (I was a part-time long-term sub for my local high school US history class from Dec.-May), but last year I moved to North Carolina to teach 8th grade social studies and let me tell you…wow! It was exactly as you said, “a ‘no accountability/ no responsibility/ no discipline’ type of scale. This was a clear plan for failure and to be polite…the negative environment just brought everyone down. After 1 year, that was enough for me out east and my fiance and I moved back to the UP of Michigan. But not to get too negative, I can now clearly see that so much has to change for our children to actually grow…not just be left out in the dirt without water and face the blistering hot sun all day long. Nice analogy, right? Anyway, I will definitely make a point to seek you out the last week of July in Milwaukee at our summer major! Take care and keep inspiring others to positively change the world…one “student” at a time!
-Jeff
Thank you for sharing that.That message was meaningful to me.God Bless