Now What?

“I once complained that I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.”
-Unknown

As human beings we have the propensity to think the world should stop and drop because of our problems. We think that because things aren’t right in our lives that the world should stop and pay attention and accept our invitation to our pity party. The reality is, is that everyone else in the world is so consumed with their own problems that they can’t make it to our pity party and are going to regretfully decline. You can send it to them in a fancy invitation or a jazzy e-vite, it won’t make a difference. As such, more often than not, we are forced to deal with our problems on our own, or with whatever troubled soul we’ve been able to bribe, threaten or dupe into listening.

The reality is, is that the whole world has problems and everyone else is too busy dealing with the dung in their yard to come smell yours. To think that your mess is much more important than your neighbor’s and that they should drop EVERYTHING to listen to you moan and groan about how unfair life is—is selfish, self-centered and egotistical and you should probably go see a therapist about it. I learned a long time ago from my mom that the world doesn’t revolve around me. No matter how much I wanted the world to care that I placed 2nd in a talent competition most thought I should have placed 1st in, or that I couldn’t get the new Air Jordan’s I wanted, they didn’t care. My mother taught me that losing was a part of life and that it was inevitable and would come even when you believe (and a million other people) that you should win. What it does is build character, provides wisdom for you to share with others, and teaches you what losing feels like so that you work harder to try not to ever experience it again. Once you’ve gone the wrong way down a one way street, you know not to do it anymore. Once you’ve tried to kick the door in, break it down with your shoulder, or punch a hole in it and none of it has worked, you realize that either you need the key, a locksmith, or a chainsaw.

The fact of the matter is—is that at some point or another no matter how rich or poor you are, no matter how many cars in your garage you have or don’t have, and no matter how large of a tattoo of a ice cream cone you have on your face, life is going to suck at some point or another. Since it’s an inevitable part of life, the only question that remains is “now what?” Now that the baby is on the way, “Now what?” Now that you’ve been fired, laid off or have retired, “Now what?” Now that school is over, your significant other has moved on, or you’ve lost your house, “NOW WHAT?” This is the question that we must consistently force ourselves to answer day after day. It is how we respond to this question which shapes our lives and our outcome.

It’s ok to throw yourself a pity party every once in a while, just make it short and try not to invite too many people. Once it’s over, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get to work. Remember, not even the rich, famous and powerful are immune from hard times. Just ask Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and the Kennedys. It’s how they responded to adversity, it’s what they did when they got to the fork in the road, and how the answered the question from the troll at the bridge of “Now what?” which determined their outcome.

There are some things that are inevitably out of our control, the weather, death and other people’s behaviors to name a few. Accept that and plan accordingly. Ask yourself this question, now that you’ve gotten to the end of this post, “Now what?” Stay Up and Be Blessed!”