“You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere, and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles.  Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.” – Helen Keller

It’s Thanksgiving, a time when we reflect on our blessings. Ever being unconventional, I am thinking about how my business is blessed with challenges, obstacles, fears and discomforts that I have encountered and continue to experience.  Sounds crazy being grateful for problems, right?  Long ago when I was in the Navy there was an expression that our instructors used many times during boot camp, “What doesn’t break you will make you” said another way and more recently popularized in song by Kelly Clarkson, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.

What I am trying to say is that being a business owner will bring up all sorts of emotions and issues that you previously weren’t aware of.  There is something about everything being on the line where you have ultimate accountability.  Even though we are choosing independence, we need to be okay with being vulnerable and recognizing the areas that we are dependent.  This includes being dependent upon our customers for valuing our product or service, on coaches and mentors to give us guidance and advice, and on our friends and family to love and support our ambitions, just to name a few.

So I am choosing this Thanksgiving to be thankful for those obstacles and problems that we all encounter and remember what Paul Harvey used to say, “and now for the rest of the story…”  The rest of the story is that with every problem, comes the solution, with every challenge comes growth.  Without fear, we would never experience fortitude, and  without adversity, we would never appreciate abundance.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!