This was actually the third time Brenda had seen that look on my face -- my sitting there dumbfounded, or in total disbelief. And, it was more than the third time she had to ask, "Wow, what are you going to do?"
Hmmmmmm... What to do...
First, I figure anyone deserves to sulk a little when something as seemingly devastating as that happens. Hey, it was okay for me to feel sorry for myself for at least a short time, and you'd deserve the same.
Secondly, though, a few secs, a few minutes, or maybe even a few hours should be about it for the sulking. For God's sake, pee-ing and moaning -- beyond a point -- serves no purpose whatsoever.
Now, what eventually took place is documented in an earlier post (the way my West Coast buddy, Mike, pulled my site out of cyber-oblivion, and saved my online hockey life). That was actually days later, though...
My sulking actually lasted something like 10-minutes, before I began pulling myself together and envisioning what I could do without the site I'd nurtured over so many years. And, within a few hours I had put together the makings of a similar, yet slightly different kind of website. Yup. I mean that.
Of course, the website part of this story is history now, and you can read about how Mike saved my butt and rebuilt my original site so that it's even better than before. However, that's not what this diary entry is really about.
Naw, it's about "the strangest secret".
For, that is the title of an old cassette audio tape I listened to -- and wore out -- sometime back in the 1970's. The tape was based on a book written many years prior to that, and it was read by the well known motivational speaker and author, Earl Nightingale
I've actually provided a YouTube.com recording for you that's the same as the one I listened to close to 40-years ago. In that program, Nightingale suggests that the answer to just about anyone's career problems can be found at the local library, although today he probably would offer the Internet as a pretty neat alternative.
Did memories of Nightgale's audio book shake me out of the doldrums? Sure. Some. But so did dozens of other books and tapes a lot like his.
Actually, I'd give even more credit to my upbringing, as well as my upbringing in sports. For, that's where one gets constantly put on his (or her) pants, but learns pretty quickly to get back up. Ya, the idea is to live to fight another day. I even took on a line from a famous football movie, where a smaller quarterback warns a threatening huge lineman with, "You might beat me, but you'd better bring your lunch."
Then, I got a kick out a line I caught today in another motivational program, when the author suggested he wasn't going to be distracted from attaining his goal, noting that, for him at least, there is "NO PLAN B"
I also grabbed something else to share with you. The following PowerPoint presentation is from a TEDx Talk presentation called "New Beginnings from Old Ends, by Carlos Espinal. If you click through the panels, you'll discover a lot of quotes offering even further inspiration.
Lastly, no matter what you might use for your own inspiration, I think it's safe to say that we should never give up. Sure, it's okay to take a little time to sulk, or feel badly for your circumstances. In the end, however, it's a whole lot more gratifying to show bounce-back power, and tell the world that, "It only matters who wins in the end."
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If you're into hockey, browse my site, at CoachChic.com.
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