There is a deep rooted quality in those who have overcome great adversity in their lives. Those who have made something from their pain, their hurt and struggles. It is a quality that proves to be common among the people who rise and shine each day to go beyond the norm and achieve something greater than expected or simply accepted.
It’s this very trait that I see in the most inspiring kind of people. Those who transform grief into a gift, those who find the blessings in disguise. This for me has been the single most powerful dissolving agent in the face of adversity, the one thing that has the greatest power in shifting barriers, moving mindset mountains in order to overcome uphill battles in life.
We all have them however there are people who move through them with grace, and others who settle. Those who settle are the ones who seem to grieve the most, suffer the most, and talk about their life as though it’s circumstances are “in their way” as opposed to “on the way” to whatever it is that they know to be their calling and purpose.
This key element of the successful that I have seen and observed…is gratitude. That attitude of gratitude that makes the difference between those who frame things in the light of what they “don’t want” and those that frame things in the light of what they intend, what they wish to see and create, in order to make it so.
See, I write about this after having gone through my own upheavals in my youth. Coming through a childhood of suffering, abuse, neglect and unbelievable loss, I learned something essential to my own success. I learned the truth about life and it’s beauty. What I discovered was how literally everything around me in my life, was a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.
This powerful learning has given me great strength and perspective on the Art of Living that we all strive to master so well. How fleeting life is. How fragile and scary all at once, and yet because of this insight, I realised how vivid and meaningful it could be!
I believe with all of my heart that this very feeling is what carried me through all of the loss in my life. Losing loved one after loved one, year after year, having trauma after trauma in my youth, I used my parents drug addiction to propel me into a life where I learned all I could to understand how “not to” depend on drugs.
Having been placed in foster care for the first time at 3 years old, I yearned to learn all I could about how to protect my own child and be that mother that would never cause such devastation to her child. Because that 3 year old in me, I clearly remember…and knowing that memory lives on in me, makes me one of the most present mother’s I’ve known.
Having lost siblings tragically as a child, I learned of the echoing power of words. The meaning of “our last words” to someone we love…and how precious that are. I learned to watch my words carefully, so as to never regret them and always to hold them dear in my heart.
With the sudden car accident taking another loved one at 17, losing a boyfriend taught me to appreciate and respect my relationships for the everlasting effect they have on us. With my mother gone prematurely one year later when I was 18, I was awoken to even greater lessons that life so generously gives.
I was transformed in the spiritual sense. Never the same. My dreams became my way. The way in which I could tap into that bond again, through memory, love and connection. I discovered the power of the heart and mind, in being able to take you places you want to be in life. Whenever I missed her mother’s love, I could feel it. And from this, I really understood that we can truly have whatever we want in life.
All we have to do is tune in. Then losing my father suddenly when he was only 46 when I was 20, I learned even more, about the value of life. I awoke to it’s blessings even more than ever. How truly short life is. How truly endless is it’s potential. How grateful I am to still be here.
I believe this quality…this trait and ability within me, is the most essential element to my success. You see, I value time more than I otherwise would have, not learning all of those powerful lessons. I value life so deeply now. I apply myself, because I know that EVERY opportunity in life…is a “once in a lifetime opportunity”. I know that a moment cannot be repeated! To appreciate ALL of it! And that my friend, is it! Gratitude. I believe those who have it, make the most impact on the world!
Because they are the ones who understand legacy and what it means to be alive!
