CHANGE:
Challenges and Opportunities
By Tess Haranda
Life doesn’t always go the way we planned or expected. Can
I get an AMEN? Think on these popular sayings:
• Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how
you react.
• Put on a happy smile and the world smiles with you.
• Whatever you put out in the world and whatever you
focus on is what you attract into your life.
You could brush them off as silly clichés, but I challenge you
to live these clichés.
Recently, I was convinced that I was going to have an
antagonistic relationship with a co-worker. Before we
started a project, I had run a dozen scenarios of her sass in
my head and how I would respond and shut her down! In
reality, when I saw her, I did everything possible to make the
situation work. I was all kinds of Pollyanna. The end result
was good - better than I expected.
In this situation, I actually ended up making great friends
with other people on the project who felt the same way
about the co-worker as I did and still acted in a positive
manner like me. We all put a smile on our faces, and it
provided us camaraderie and a common goal. We took a
tricky situation and made it work with fantastic results,
which means we all walked away with reinforcement to
continue that positive attitude.
There are always challenging people in our lives, and you
may not have 100% success when you deal with them, but
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October 2016
you’ll have been the better person and taken the high road.
I can live with myself if I’ve done all the right things and
taken the high road.
More than once in my adult life, I was convinced that my
career path was crushed, but I sat back and allowed myself
the freedom to look at other opportunities - and they came.
I took this situation in my career and decided that I was
going to look at the end of this leadership role as a simple
opportunity to reframe my contribution to my industry. I
looked for other possibilities to share my knowledge. I found
a speaking engagement at a conference, and months later, I
was asked to take over a different leadership position. My
attitude and energy were focused on continuing my growth
and giving back to others in my profession; subsequently,
I found opportunities that were even better suited to my
background and expertise.
Doors shut; windows shut. Doors open; windows open.
Life brings challenges and opportunities — look for
the opportunities.
TESS HARANDA
Tess Haranda is a life coach, mom,
writer, and teacher. Learn more at
www.successwithtess.com.
Photo by Kaitlyn Haranda