It's up to you...

The new year is here and I wanna start the year off with a quick story, a story about a farmer and his neighbor. After years of working in his fields, the farmer decided one day he needed a horse for the farm. From that day on he worked tirelessly saving what little he could to one day buy a horse. 

After years of working and saving, he finally saved enough money to buy a horse. Then one night, shortly after buying his horse it got loose and ran away. Hearing of the news, his neighbor came by and said, "I'm sorry to hear about your horse, that's bad luck!" 

The farmer replied, "good or bad, nobody knows." 

The next day the farmer was in the fields tending to his crop when he looked up to see his horse trotting through the field with 3 wild horses at its side. 

The neighbor heard about the news and come over to congratulate the farmer. "That's such good luck!" the neighbor said. 

The farmer replied, "good or bad, nobody knows."

The next day the farmer was in the fields tending to his crop while his son played with the horses. His son tried riding one of the wild horses and was thrown off, breaking his leg. 

The neighbor heard about the news and said: "I'm sorry to hear about your son, that's just bad luck."

The farmer looked at the neighbor and said, "good or bad, nobody knows."

The next day the farmer was in the fields tending to his crop when a man approached him and said: "I'm from the government and we are drafting men for the war, may I speak to your son." 

Realizing the son had a broken leg, the man left and the son did not get drafted.  

Later that night, the neighbor stopped by to talk with the farmer. Realizing the son did not get drafted the neighbor said, "That's such good luck your son didn't get drafted." 

And the farmer replied, "good or bad, nobody knows." 

Who will you be?

Every new year brings new opportunities and desires, and new hopes and dreams. As we enter the new year, we tell ourselves, this will be the year I "lose the weight" "stop smoking" "get that promotion" "start that business" or "ask that girl out." 

Whatever your desires may be, the one thing that will determine if you get them or not is how you choose to see things. Are you going to be the neighbor or the farmer? Are you going to be quick to label and judge situations and circumstances, or will you take a step back and let life unfold around you? 

Every day you are choosing what to focus on, and where you focus determines where you go. Every day, in every moment your life is created by the words and meanings you attach to things. Whether it's "good or bad" "right or wrong" "the end or the beginning" is entirely up to you and that choice will undoubtedly determine your fate this year and every year for the rest of your life!

You will get knocked down, you will fail, and you will struggle. Those are all guaranteed on this journey called life. The question is not if this will happen, the question is, who will you be and how will you react when it happens?

Will you be a man who sees things as "good or bad" or will you be a man who sees everything as an opportunity to learn and grow through life. I believe we must see things as they are, but not worse than they are, and then we must see them as opportunities to learn and grow. 

Final thoughts

2019 will be the BEST year of your life (or not), the decision is entirely up to you and the decisions you make every day. I believe our success or failure this year will be guided by 2 simple decisions...

1. What you focus on

2. What it means

In the best selling book "As A Man Thinketh" the author James Allen says, "Man is made or unmade by himself." He then goes on to explain our thoughts have the power to create a life of joy and happiness, or sadness and defeat. 

Ultimately it all comes down to what we focus on, and what it means. The choice is yours...