Have the ups outnumbered the downs ?
A new year and just back from a run (yes the New Year’s resolutions have kicked in!) and just about to jump into the shower I hear a song from the kid’s Robin Hood movie on the T.V. downstairs. “Sometimes ups outnumber the downs but not in Nottingham!” So I get to thinking…. Have my ups outnumbered my downs for 2008? Absolutely!
Have I achieved all my goals for 2008? Unfortunately not! Have I avoided the fallout of the recession? Unfortunately not! But as I look out my back bedroom window which overlooks a cemetery and watch the gravedigger shovel the last bit of earth onto the newly inhabited grave I can reaffirm to myself that my ups definitely outnumbered my downs. Yes I can gratefully say I have had a good year, gratitude oozes from my pores as I glance out again and see the sorrow which lingers in the air beyond my garden.
So can you say the same? Maybe you have been affected by the recession; maybe you have had to close a business, lay off employees, or maybe you had a substantial amount of Bank of Ireland shares! Maybe your downs were plentiful in 2008 but 2009 is yours for the taking and when you stand in 2010 and look back at the year, will you be able to say your ups outnumbered your downs? Well that’s up to you.
As one of my favourite authors Robin Sharma says “You are the author of your own biography” you get to decide what happens next. Would Richard Branson wallow or would he get up and start again? Peter Jones from BBC’s Dragons Den failed in business before making it big, he got a job to pay off his debts and raise capital to start afresh. And remember not only do you get to decide what happens next but perspective is everything, because for me the flower picked from a fuchsia bush in my garden and given to me by my 3 year old was definitely one of the highlights of 2008 for me.