17 Oct There is No Such Thing as Bad Weather, Just Bad Gear and a Bad Attitude!
Moss Jackson, PhD
Psychologist and Success Coach
Judy and I were walking the cross country trail at Haverford College earlier today after spending some time with our accountant Frank, The “Flash”, Morris, who was finishing up our 2015 tax returns.
Let me be very clear: I love Flash! He is a brilliant, creative and outlandish human being with a big heart. But, when tax return season descends upon me, I hate him, the IRS and what it costs to live a decent life of modest style. Nothing outrageous, mind you, just living a decent balance between earning a decent income, paying standard living expenses, paying the IRS, and having something left over for enjoyment, vacation and helping out our daughters.
So, there we were, walking the wooden trail and feeling the cool air and sun upon our faces as we held hands and crunched our way through the path. Then our old friends Doug and Jerry Lynne appeared a few feet away and we spent some time catching up and swapping stories.
At some point, we got to talking about their trip to Iceland and the weather they encountered as they trekked along mountainous paths, and how they helped each other along when the weather turned rainy and chilly. Doug, a typical extrovert, smiled broadly and exclaimed, “There is no bad weather, just bad gear and a bad attitude!” We chatted a while longer, swapped travel stories, personal pains and aches, wished each other well and proceeded on our little trek as Doug’s words reverberating in my mind.
Maybe we can apply Doug’s quote to living a successful life. We know shit happens and we have to trudge through it one way or another. We can deal with our “Bad Weather” in life either as Navigators, Survivors or Victims.
Victims feel life is unfair and ruminate on how they are constantly getting bad breaks. Survivors get angry and attempt to win at any cost, regardless of how they have to walk over others in the process.
Navigators, on the other hand, face problems squarely, make no excuses, take responsibility, are hard on the problem and not people, turn shit into manure, don’t complain, and turn problems into action. They deal with the bad weather in life by wearing the right attitude and using skills that make their situational trek manageable.
There is no such thing as a bad life, just a lack of coping skills and a negative attitude that attracts more future misery and complaints.
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