Sunday, August 8, 2010

WALKING INTO AND THROUGH DISAPPOINTMENT

People disappoint us.  Things disappoint us.  Sometimes we even disappoint ourselves.
Walking into and through disappointment is like walking into a labyrinth.  It is perplexing.  And sometimes it is misery. The darkness gets thicker and confusion reigns without a positive attitude. Recently disappointment has been heavy in the air, and at times it has been hard to realize that in every disappointment there is compensation.

Laurence Olivier said, "Living is strife and torment, disappointment and love and sacrifice, golden sunsets and black storms. I said that some time ago, and today I do not think I would add one word."  I love life and all of its twists and turns.  It is folly to think we don't have upsets. I welcome them into the chaos as well.

But you  know the funny thing about someone trying to intentionally ruin your reputation, slander your morals and ethics, your life's passion, and your work, is that it doesn't work unless you let it.  In fact, their efforts produce quite the opposite result.  Their actions actually open your eyes and show you who they really are.

If you are thrown into a maze, you will make it through, and I can guarantee you that you will find a path that leads you in another and much better direction.  Traversing this path can be exhilirating and energizing.  It is up to you.  You will quickly discover that those things, and people in your life, that have been deadwood, and doing nothing but dragging you and your work down, have taught you a great and important lesson. 


More importantly, those who have steadfastly stood beside you, loved you, supported you, and have known, without a doubt, as they deflect those arrows slung at you, that they were shot in vane - these are the people who really count.  They have shown you who they are, as they have shared laughter with you at the antics of others to implod and defame you personally, as well as your work. 

Such has been the case this past week.  I must say having been hung without a trial wasn't fun for a day or two, but now there is an amazing, vibrant and new vigor to my life - a fresh energy that is clean and full of enormous and extraordinary promise, as I once again have been reminded, in a most delicious way, about who and what is important and who and what isn't.

Penny's From Heaven Foundation, Inc. has changed focus and expanded its horizons to amazing heights.  Those not wishing to partake - well their loss.  But I doubt they will care and it truly doesn't matter. 

Sometimes when we don't know the answer, we have to simply sit and wait as we ride it out and muddle through waiting for the answers to come.  My mantra is,  "If I don't know the right thing to do, I do nothing." Perhaps doing nothing is the answer. 

This brief and pitiful exchange of the past week affected me sure.  But in a positive way.  As I drove home yesterday from another Saturday of feeding breakfast and nourishing 138 + wounded warriors, I felt a sense of hope and exhiliration.  My true friends willingness to extend themselves to sustain me in a way I could never have anticipated will have a huge ripple effect as Penny's From Heaven Foundation, Inc. will soon announce extraordinary plans for the future.  The support we are receiving across the country has been breathtaking. 

So the truth is, I accept and receive the attempts of other to cripple me, with gratitude and generosity.  The interconnectedness of  all life is found in giving and receiving.  It cannot be taken. 

So I say thank you to my enemies, I have been sustained. And again, more importantly, your efforts at demolition will also sustain hundreds and hundreds of others by the new direction of a very brave and stalwart group of individuals who truly know who I am and know my heart and have the best interests of the foundation in mind. God bless you all.

Wiping away tears is what Penny's From Heaven is all about - not causing them!


 



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“The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.”
~ Robert Kiyosaki

“People look at you and me to see what they are supposed to be. And, if we don't disappoint them, maybe, just maybe, they won't disappoint us.”



~Walt Disney

“Ones best success comes after their greatest disappointments.”



~Henry Ward Beecher



 

1 comment:

  1. Count me among the friends and supporters

    ReplyDelete