Turn it upside down, frame it differently

I must have been 50 years old and feeling very old, when someone send me a thin book with Seneca letters to a young mentee of his. About what means growing old and how to embrace it.

Perhaps more then 2000 or 3000 years between the time he wrote it and it arrived to me. So? We did not change so much in all that years. Inside.

The book I am reading now is about how to use whatever arrives and turn it upside down. Use it, find what you can do with it.

It begins about Perception and how we see something that arrives we did not want, and use it to our benefit. Seneca was send, against his will on the shores of what is now Romanian seaside. He  find a way to use it, write, continue to have influence, and, if I remember well, even return "home" at the end. As for me, many times I had to deal with difficulties and roadblocks I did not expect, did not like. Old things we are used to and have to leave. New things that offer us unwanted obstacles.

Dammit, it sucks! We can tell ourselves, and even if we really feel it to our friends, we can take a short time to feel frustrated, but not too long. Remember, we can not fight against what happened, what did not depend on us, but we can put things in perspective and do something about it.

New things come with obstacles, as Pathways Education Program does too. The important is to persist and not give up. Look at obstacles as Opportunities, look at failures as stepping stones. When we change attitude and color of perception, we can use them to our advantage.

My observation was, and last year about this time I gave my first Pathways Inspirational speech about it, during Ablaze online meeting: When we get an obstacle, and find a way, we are one step ahead of others "Became an Expert" in their eyes. From then on, we become Guides, Helpers, Trainers.

As Pathways comes in, with wonderful content but wrinkles that have not yet been ironed out. We are happy, as Toastmasters help each other to grow and understand. I had a hero in shining armor fly on my help all the way from Toronto when I was stuck in Icebreaker and did not know how to tell "I finished" it, and then again with my Level 1, how to declare it done? He become my mentor from then on. And you know of course, then I could also help others!

I could tell many stories from my life, when a roadblock come into my way. My father did teach me at 12 to persist and not give away easy, not run away as I felt at first. I did not get always what I wanted, hoped for, needed even, but many times, I did and when not, it turned out even better in the long run.

Use the difficulties to your advantage. Tell others stories of how you fought to understand and found a way. Sometimes, the way could have even been, discovering a blogpost from here.