viewing challenges as gifts...

Dear Why Team members,

I hope this message finds you well and enjoying your week.

 When life gets hard, do you get bitter or better?  Are your life goals primarily focused on what you will get, or on what you will give? According to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, our true wealth is found in our virtues, not in our possessions.   Asking Why questions can reveal the motivations behind our actions, forcing us to confront whether those actions are aligned with our highest values, or whether they are mostly an attempt to get and maintain the status quo.  Are your choices aligned with your highest aspirations, your values, the true source of your strength and character or are they simply to keep or get more of what you're afraid of losing?  Our true sources of wealth are timeless and can never be taken from us, they can only be given away by us.  It is attention to why we do what we do that can bring us worldly success and then the real challenge begins. ​Lincoln said...

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... "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power"

​If we put our temporal attachments before our valued character, we will no doubt in time lose the gifts born from character and then enter a period of rebuilding character.  All of this is to say, when life gets hard, do you get bitter or better?  Difficulties can either anger us because we're not getting what we want, or they can be seen as strengthening us, developing our character and reminding us of what truly matters to us.  When we focus our why on how to become more for others, we are more likely to see our challenges as gifts received for our benefit, and ultimately through us, a benefit to others.  As one of my teachers, Dr. Roger Hall often shares, people seek less the map and compass, but more so the guide who has been there. 

See the why of your struggles as gifts to strengthen your character, connecting you more fully with the why of your life, to be better, not bitter, for those your life can serve.
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Make it a great week,

Steve Luckenbach