“Nobody says you must laugh, but a sense of humor can help you overlook the unattractive, tolerate the unpleasant, cope with the unexpected, and smile through the day”
Ann Landers
If you are like I am your life is full of surprises, some good and some bad. In my case I have had many that I would have preferred to miss especially severe unexpected illnesses. Fortunately I have had enough of them to understand they are just part of the human existence and when they happen the world does not end, life goes on and often it is better than before.
It was also like that through my various careers. In fact most of my focus over the years was on evaluating unexpected events and then developing appropriate solutions. As time wore on the process of dealing with the unexpected was fine tuned to the point the learned skill made problems something you dealt with, didn’t worry about and moved on.
An article from the Change Blog written by Deborah Fike started my reflection on my problem handling history. Here is what she wrote:
Planning for the Unexpected
Of course, life doesn’t always follow a script, which is why it’s important to plan for the unexpected. That sounds impossible. How can you plan for something which you cannot anticipate? The truth is, you can’t plan the details, but you put yourself into a certain mindset that will help you succeed.
So how can you plan for the unexpected? A few things I’ve found useful over the years:
1. Keep positive. Just because you believe something will happen doesn’t magically make it happen. On the flip side, if you tell yourself you can’t do something, there is zero percent chance it will happen. Keeping a positive attitude will help you weather unexpected hurdles and obstacles. If you are not naturally good at being positive in the face of adversity, find others who are. Their positive attitude and/or their belief in you will help push through the hard times.
2. Know your priorities. If you are truly determined to reach a goal, it should take precedence over others. New entrepreneurs struggle with financial stability over bringing their product to market. The key to jumping the hurdle is having faith in the product over a dwindling bank account. If you find other priorities getting in the way of your goal, you may need to reassess if the goal is really right for you.
3. Favor the long haul over the short-term. If you know what goal you’ll want to reach, you’ll find the means to get there, even if prospects aren’t good in the short term. If you aren’t determined to meet your goal, then in the face of uncertainty, you may waver and fail.
4. Keep up with current events. If you are forced to take a break from your goals, put aside some time to stay current so you can jump back in the game later. One of my friends got laid off from a sports marketing job he loved and had to work retail for several years. He kept his skills current through networking, reading, and job searching and finally landed a new position several years later. He’s now a director in the company he works for, due largely in part that he didn’t just “take a break” from his old career.
5. Take time to recover from a crisis. Sometimes tragic events happen. The death of a good friend or family member, for example, may justifiably warrant our time and energy. As much as possible, don’t feel bad about taking time off to recover from a personal crisis. Just like your physical health, your emotional health is worth carving out time for. Ignoring emotional turmoil could result in further disaster, compounding the problem and making it harder to reach your goals.
All plans, even the best ones, will change once paper meets reality. So don’t despair if everything isn’t going to plan. Instead, go with the flow, and find new solutions to unexpected problems by having the right mindset.
~~~
If you so choose, even the unexpected setbacks can bring new and positive possibilities. If you so choose, you can find value and fulfillment in every circumstance.
Ralph Marston
~~~
John and his wife Jill often take car trips from the U.S. to Canada.
One holiday season they were stopped at the border, where the guard asked John the value of any goods we would be taking back with us. John paused to think of the value of everything they had with them.
“Never mind,” the guard said, “what’s the most expensive thing in your car?”
Without hesitation, John replied, “My wife.”
~~~
The best auto safety device is a rearview mirror with a police car in it.
~~~
A recent bride called her mother one evening in tears. “Oh, Mom, I tried to make Grandmother’s meat loaf for dinner tonight, and it’s just awful! I followed the recipe exactly, and I know I have the recipe right because it’s the one you gave me. But it just didn’t come out right, and I’m so upset. I wanted this to be so special for George because he loves meat loaf. What could have gone wrong?”
Her mother replied soothingly, “Well, dear, let’s go through the recipe. You read it out loud and tell me exactly what you did at each step, and together we’ll figure it out.”
“OK,” the bride sniffled. “Well, it starts out, ‘ Take fifty cents worth of ground beef ‘…”
~~~
Understanding human needs is half the job of meeting them.
ADLAI E. STEVENSON, JR.
~~~
To make it possible for everyone to attend church on Sunday, we are proposing to have a special ‘No Excuse Sunday.’
1. Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say,’Sunday is my only day to sleep in.’
2. They will have steel helmets for those who say, ‘The roof will cave in if I ever came to church.’
3. Blankets will be furnished for those who say it is too cold and fans for those who say it is too hot.
4. There will be hearing aids for those who say, ‘The pastor speaks too softly,’ and cotton for those who say, ‘He preaches too loudly.’
5 Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present.
6. Some relatives will be in attendance for those who like to go visiting on Sunday.
7. There will be TV dinners for those who can’t go to church and cook dinner too.
8. Golf clubs will be available for practice swings for those who like to golf on Sunday.
So, now you’ll have no excuse for not attending church this coming Sunday.
~~~
“The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.”
Franklin P. Jones
~~~
A shaddchan (matchmaker) corners a yeshiva bochur (student) and says, “Do I have a girl for you!”.
“Not interested”, replies the bochur.
“But she’s beautiful!”, says the shaddchan
“Yeah?” says the bochur.
“Yes. And she’s very rich too.”
“Really?”
“And she has great yichus (ancestry)! From a very fine family.”
“Sounds great.” says the bochur. “But why would a girl like that want to marry me? She’d have to be crazy.”
Replies the shaddchan “Well, you can’t have everything!”
~~~
A boy took home a library book whose cover read “How To Hug” only to discover that it was volume seven of an encyclopedia.
~~~
Memorial Day weekend was coming up, and the nursery school teacher took the opportunity to tell her class about patriotism.
“We live in a great country,” she said. “One of the things we should be happy is that, in this country, we are all free.”
One little boy came walking up to her from the back of the room. He stood with his hands on
his hips and said. . . .
“I’m not free. I’m four.”
~~~
“Most people want to be circled by safety, not by the unexpected. The unexpected can take you out. But the unexpected can also take you over and change your life. Put a heart in your body where a stone used to be.”
Ron Hall
~~~
Stay well, do good work, and have fun.
Ray Mitchell
Indianapolis, Indiana
Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.
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