Two weeks to go and our son, Trey, will be home from College in the US for a brief stay. There is great excitement as we have not seen him for nearly two years.

It’s been interesting as we have had to learn to deal with situations as they arise. For example, this time last year Trey was unable to come home because of Covid and the cost of plane flights ($40K return flight). We made the best of the situation with lots of video calls and he made the best of his time in the US by having a tour around and seeing some of the country.

Things can go wrong. Bad situations present themselves and we can struggle. It’s up to us as to how we handle them.

Some people get emotionally down as they focus on what they don’t have, what’s going wrong, what’s not happening and how they are worse off. Negative (disempowering) thinking only leads to more of the same.

While it’s easy to focus on what is going wrong, train yourself to focus on what is going right, what you can do and how things can work out to your advantage.

Many years ago, when I was 19, my girlfriend left me for another guy. All I did was focus on what I was missing out on, how bad things were and how I was a victim.

Now, I look back on that breakup and thank my ex for changing my life. Without having gone through that experience, I wouldn’t be doing the work I am today; I wouldn’t be living the great life I enjoy and I wouldn’t have Julie and the other three boys in my life.

I now see she did me a huge favour and I am forever grateful.

What have I learnt from this?

Even though life can deal you a crappy hand, there are always better days ahead. You will get through the darker days and all these experiences help shape who you are and where you are today.

I have this knowing that things will always work out for me.

The quicker you learn this, the faster you go forward.

If you are not going forward and feel stuck, this is the time to get some help. The help you get should produce lasting results that will serve you for the rest of your life.

I learnt the hard way through working things out for myself. The easier way would have been to find someone who has mastered the situation and learn from them.

Make decisions that are going to work for you.

You’ll be glad you did.