The one you feed

“We forget: In life, it doesn’t matter what happens to you or where you came from. It matters what you do with what happens and what you’ve been given.”

- Ryan Holiday

My best friend was fired today.

This happens and sometimes it happens on the tail of a terrible year, sometimes it happens in one of your best years. Your job, in the abstract, doesn’t care about you. It makes decisions regardless of how it might affect you; it pivots in order to survive in a disruptive market, because like your job — the market doesn’t care about you either. Life can be an uphill climb.

But here is the thing. I believe in life there are only two types of people; those who take a punch shake it off and keep coming and those who crumble when it gets hard. (insert your Ronda Rousey jokes here) The people who can take a punch get stronger, find better jobs, start a new business, reinvent themselves, and actually become better because that job didn’t fit them in the first place. The people who can take a punch are gracious in the face of adversity, welcome the lesson and learn from it.

The people who crumble take to the internet and bitch about how unfair the world is, blame those around them, take on the role of the victim and blanket themselves in the “how could they do this to me” mentality.

My best friend can take a punch; in fact, his post on Facebook sums up the class by which he approaches the obstacles in life. (have edited for context)

Losing a job is never fun, but my mom’s recent passing has given me the perspective to know that this is but a minor speed bump as I move forward.

My thanks to all my amazing colleagues over the past half decade,

I’m going to take some time to sleep in, enjoy my family, and be more intentional in 2017

I like the grace and the optimism of his post and my hope is that you read his words and get to work. We don’t get any extra time, this isn’t Mario Run and you don’t get another chance. You get one and sometimes life takes a moment to remind you that the best time to start was yesterday but today will do. What will be your start in 2017? Who will you impact this year? Who will miss you when you are gone?

You are going to hit roadblocks this year at work, in your relationships, with your fitness goals, with your financial goals but the only thing that matters is how you respond to them. Do you bite down on your mouthpiece and put in another round? Do you thank your opponent for teaching what to watch out for next time? Or do you quit and go home?

He is going to get up tomorrow morning and get to work.

I suggest you do the same because safety is not a luxury we have, but how we manage the time we are given most certainly is.