The University of Life

We are three days into the New Year and hopefully we are on target with our resolutions.  If you have fallen off track, brush the dirt off yourself, get back up and start again.   Release those feelings of guilt over your stumble and ace a few courses.  Not the courses you take when you pay tuition for course credit.  I want you to learn life skills which are taught when you are in the midst of doubt or adversity.

In the words of Maya Angelou, “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”   Utilize this moment of temporary defeat as a class you are taking in the University of Life.  Yes the University of Life, as long as we are alive we are all taking courses from the University of Life.

A few of the mandatory courses include:

1) Adversity  – The introductory course teaches you that life isn’t fair and each successive course educates you on how to develop personal strength and stamina.  “If the road is easy, you’re likely going the wrong way.” ― Terry Goodkind

2) Personal Accounting – Much like Business Accounting, this course teaches you how to account for the budget you have been granted access to.  This budget must be approved each fiscal year and the consequences for poor management will affect your ability to skip Adversity 104 and go straight to Humanity 101.

3) Humanity 101 – This course is your foundation course regarding how to interact and care for other humans surrounding you.  It includes chapters such as hospitality, charity, compassion, and values.  Essential courses which teach you the fundamentals of business etiquette, branding, and networking.  “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” ― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

 

Life isn’t fair but it will teach you the skills you need to achieve your goals.  Each day you get up is another day to start again.  Each breath you take is another reminder that life goes on.  Don’t give in to defeat because you fell off course.  This is one of chapters in the University of Life.  Take notes along the way to pinpoint what contributed to your detour, then make an alternative plan of action for when you come upon this detour again.  Because you will come upon another detour because after all, life isn’t fair but as long as we are alive hope exists.

Til next time,

“Action expresses priorities” – Mohandas Gandhi