All successful people want to present the best of who we are in order to maximize our contributions, service and value to others. We want the reality and reflection of who we are to be positive, and hopefully polished. Most of us want to reflect a clear, clean, crisp and transparent image.
Unquestionably, who we are and who we become is a process and result of many factors, including the many irritations caused by people and circumstances we “rub up against” as we move through life.
So, here is an important question: If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?
The path to success is never a straight and easy route. We travel through many twists and turns as we hit barriers, scrape over hurdles, feel our way around detours, and fall into inevitable pot holes. We stumble, we “rub up against” all kinds of obstacles, and then we find our way over, under, around, or through these obstacles.
These “rubs” are what make us who we. They develop character, compassion, clarity and polish. The “rubs” build strength, perseverance and perspective. The irritating rubs ultimately make it possible for us to shine.
It takes a lot of polishing to be successful. It also takes continuous polishing to stay successful. People and circumstances can feel like a pebble in our shoe. And yet the rub, sometimes the irritating rub, can result in a sparkling polished gemstone.
Like the pebble or like the stone, we all need to be polished.
Embrace and learn from the irritating rubs of life. You, and your mirror are being prepared and polished for bigger and better things in the future!
Copyright © 2011 by Dan Nielsen
