Crumpled Paper
(or You Have A Choice)
By Velma Gallant
"The last of the human freedoms: to choose one's
attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose
one's own way."
~Viktor Frankl
To choose. That's really what it's all about.
Things happen. We can't avoid it.
I call it contrast. Some call it problems. I don't. Words are powerful, and problems are certainly not powerful.
Contrast, however, is not draining for me at all.
So when contrast shows up, how do you want to feel?
Do you want to be overwhelmed with your experience and feel powerless?
Or do you want to feel like you have the power to move through the contrast and succeed?
Each one of our contrast experiences has a little gem in it.
Someone really wise and loving told me once that I had a special gift of looking for the flower in the crumpled papers I was handed.
I really like that gift, and it has brought me a long way.
I can look at all the experiences in my life, and I can find the gem in it.
I remember thinking back that I wish I would have gone to University for Math rather than secretarial college. I could list all the reasons why it would have been a better decision.
The only thing is, I was living on my own, and had been since the age of 16, so I had to get out there and start working right away so I could support myself. It felt like the choice was made for me.
What I have since noticed is that it was all part of my following my path, even though I didn't realize it back then.
My secretarial skills allowed me to get the coaching I desired. By being coached, I realized I had a natural talent and a great desire to be a coach, and began following that path.
None of this would have or could have happened had I not gone to secretarial college. What I had thought was a bad decision ended up being the perfect decision for me.
That's my little flower from that crumpled piece of paper.
And if I look back, there is at least one little flower in each of the crumpled pieces of paper in my life.
I know that I'll have more crumpled pieces of paper handed to me throughout my life, and that's okay, because I know I'll find all the little flowers.
That's just the way I choose to look at things, and it works very well for me. I end up with a lot of things to be grateful for.
So when you get handed a crumpled piece of paper, are you going to toss it in the garbage? Are you going to complain that you weren't handed a perfect white sheet as you stare at the crumpled piece of paper?
Or will you open it up and find the flower?
Author info:
Copyright (c) 2005 by Velma Gallant. All rights reserved.
Velma Gallant is an Author, Speaker, Trainer and Abundance Coach. She's a co-author in a best-selling book series with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer called "Wake Up Live the Life you Love: Finding Personal Freedom". Velma is the creator of Living Abundant Joy where she interviewed 19 outrageously successful speakers, marketers and coaches on Abundance. She publishes a weekly e-newsletter called "Welcome Changes", which reaches over 45 countries around the world. Velma coaches entrepreneurs and business people to be abundantly successful in both business and life.
www.welcomechanges.com Velma can be reached by email at velma@welcomechanges.com or at 1-800-992-2863.
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