When my girlfriend showed up with hot pink hair last night I clapped and shrieked with delight. I loved it when I first saw it from 20 feet distance.
She explained the process didn’t go as expected. She was aiming for more of a pale pink tint, and it turned out to be full-on hot pink.
“I looked at myself in the mirror and said, ‘Girl, you just have to own it!’”
I love her.
There’s so much to learn from her reaction.
Things in life go off the rails when we least expect it.
If the worst of it is hot pink hair, that’s a great blessing.
We lose jobs, lose lovers, get transplanted, and get sick. We grow old, our roles in society change, and our bodies let us down. Some of that’s predictable and some of it hits us unaware.
Damn, some of it can really hurt, and if we’re not careful, we can take on that unexpected outcome and let it tell us who we are.
We can get so emotionally tied up with the event that we let it hold power over us. It can make us angry, or afraid, or close us off.
There’s nothing good to be gained from getting emotionally tied up in unexpected outcomes.
Assess the situation, take a deep breath, and own it.
It happened.
You don’t have to shrink, make excuses or apologize.
You don’t have to feel less than good enough.
You also don’t have to get angry and fight the world because of it.
You’re smart, and you’re adaptable. Make the situation work.
That’s what resilience is.
Resilience can turn a setback into progress. It’s a key ingredient of success in any area of your life.
Resilience is a skill, and you can strengthen it. Read more about that here:
Learn to Thrive and Not Just Survive with These Resilience Power Tips
Life has to be lived one way or another.
You can own those unexpected outcomes and turn them into strengths, or you can dig yourself into a hole.
Turn the unexpected into a gift you share with the world. Use it as a tool that works for you.
Rock it.
Download my free 5-day Mastering Happiness PDF course! and visit me at www.christinebradstreet.com