If you think you are beaten, you are. – Anonymous
If you think that you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost certain you won’t.”
There’s a character in Greek mythology named Sisyphus [sis-i-fus]. He ticked off one of the Gods (apparently an easy thing to do back then) and was punished. Besides being short-tempered, overly sensitive and never ones to believe in a statute of limitations, the Greek Gods were also pretty creative when it came to dispensing punishments.
Poor Sisyphus was condemned to push a large boulder up a hill, only to have the rock roll back down to the bottom just before reaching the hill’s crest. This task he was required to repeat and repeat, always with the same result, for all of eternity.
Sound familiar? How many times in your business or personal life have you felt like the modern-day equivalent of Sisyphus – dealing with the same issues, problems or complaints over and over again.
Feeling the load on your shoulders, you work and work. You do the best you can, only to see your labors result in nothing gained. The boulder just keeps rolling back down the hill.
Actually, old Sisyphus might have had it better; at least he could blame some crazy, drunken God sitting on Mount Olympus for his situation. We 21st-century mortals often blame ourselves.
We feel helpless, and the rock gets bigger. We feel angry, and the rock gets bigger. We feel defeated, and the rock gets bigger.
So, what do you do?
You make a choice.
Ellen Glasgow wrote, “No life is so hard that you can’t make it easier by the way you take it.”
No matter what the situation, you always have the freedom of choice. Even if the choice is only between having a negative outlook or a positive outlook, it’s a choice – your choice.
Yes, trying to maintain a positive attitude is not always easy. At those times when you feel most frustrated, when you fall short of your expectations, don’t be too hard on yourself. Give yourself a break and some credit.
Pushing boulders uphill is hard work.
Densie Lloyd
