“Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional,” said the Dalai Lama, quoting an old Zen saying.
Life inevitably brings pain and temporary defeats, even on the road to success. Develop a good sense of humor; nothing is better for softening blows. Learn to laugh at yourself. When you see the humor in embarrassing situations, they cease to be stressful. The person who can laugh often can keep going when others fail.
You can’t win all the time. Michael Jordan considered the greatest basketball player of all time, scored on fewer than half of his field goal attempts.
Great athletes know that they will fail often on their road to victory. They also know that every failure carries the seed of success.
Every failure makes room for future success if you let every failure teach you a lesson. In a particular week, you may miss your deadlines or have an argument with your spouse. This may make you lose hope and become fearful. Respond with faith and persistence, and it will go away.
Respond to your temporary defeat by affirming that though this week did not go as planned, you still felt centered and balanced as you kept your principles and core values of family, health, and spirituality at the forefront.