Fall down seven times, get up eight! Resilience is not how many times that you get knocked down, it’s that you get up one more time. Achievement is impossible without resilience. Gifts are received without resilience. Treasure is found without resilience. Wealth is enjoyed without resilience. But, achievement is impossible without resilience!
High school seniors spend their winters submitting their college applications and awaiting responses. Identifying the college that they plan to attend is a critical decision. Many seniors believe that their future is predicated on the result of this exercise. Unfortunately, it is a decision where they have little control over the process. Worse yet, the decision is a result of years of activity and accomplishment. However, the last amount of time before sending the applications is tremendously stressful. With few exceptions the achievement is not who accepts you, but rather how do you start the mysterious journey toward your destiny.
The achievement of starting the journey, simply buying a ticket for the trip, is a test of one’s resilience. The process will knock you down. Young people will succeed in finding schools, or fail to get sufficient financial aid, or engage inflexible bureaucracy for the first time, or be frightened by the process and quit. Achievement comes from resilience in accepting life’s blows and getting back up.
On the other end of the personal growth spectrum, gray-haired professionals are terrified that their careers are in jeopardy and they are not prepared for retirement. They may have done a poor job saving, had their retirement fund destroyed by an unforgiving market, or remain a few years short of completing their retirement plan, or still have unmet professional goals to achieve. Facing the loss of their job, gray-haired professionals must confront watching dreams shatter or alternatively prepare for a resilient recovery to a momentary stumble. Often, the answer is locked inside their attitude.
So, you may not be responsible for being knocked down, but you are responsible for getting back up. If you intend to achieve, then prepare to be knocked to the ground. Then, prepare to rise again. Resilience and achievement march together in lockstep. Your attitude determines how far you will march. Keeping getting up!
-The Voice
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