Dealing with what you are Dealt

Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.

Jack London

     One the family favorites to watch is The Princes Bride. There is a point where the grandfather stops reading when the grandson interrupts and tells his grandfather he read the story wrong, "Wesley didn't die!"

     "I'm afraid so," Grandpa replies.

     "Who gets Humperdink?"

     "No one, he lives."

     "That is not fair!"

     "Life isn't fair."

     A great interchange, and a great life lesson. Life isn't fair. No amount of whining will change that. And no matter how much regulations goverments throw at things, it will not change the simple fact that life isn't always far.

    

     In fact there are days I have exchanges like this:

     "Hey, how are you doing?" Someone will ask.

     "Can't complain," I reply, then I'll sometimes add, "Wouldn't do any good if I did."

     Inevitable I get this reply, "No, it wouldn't."

     My wife and I have made friends with a couple that loves to get with us on a Friday or Saturday night. We play cards until 11 PM or sometimes midnight, depending on how things go. We have two rules that are strictly enforces

     1. If you discard a card, you are done with your turn. Period.

     2. Have fun.

     There are times we are loosing, and loosing bad, but we are having so much fun with conversations, and jokes, it just doesn't matter. There are times I get dealt a hand I can do nothing with. I have to play it nonetheless. However, I may get a fantastic hand and get a great run a few deals later. That is part of the fun.

     Life is a lot like the card game.  There are times when everything is going your way. Life is easy then. But like the card game, there are times life deals us an ugly hand.

     One of my most popular blog posts is "When your Best isn't Good Enough." I talk about leaving a job I spent years at, trying to get things better.

     I couldn't control the factors that landed me in that job. I was able to find a new position and leave that company. My hand that life has dealt me since has been better.

     The main thing is this: do the best with what you've got. We have to deal with what we've got. So what if life isn't fair, and we are not where we think we should be, or where we want to be. That is part of life. How we work through it is important.

     Keep your head up. Things will change. They always do. Work on what you can control and work to make the changes positive. Life will throw ugly things at us, but then things tend to work out for the best in the end.

    

What keeps you positive and motivated?