Often, when things don’t go the way we expect or plan we become bewildered. We need not be bewildered any longer, however, because we can understand what to call each of the changes that life brings us several times each day. A change like this is called a “flip.” The question we need to ask is whether it is a flip forward or a flip backward, but it is definitely a flip. We experience daily flips in all of our life domains – education, health, finances, recreation, environment, spirituality, personal development, and family/friends. What we must orchestrate is our response to these flips.
It is helpful to recognize and remember that all of our successes have the element of a flip – e.g., a graduation (a flip in the education domain), a car purchase (in the finance domain), a new job (in finance domain again), the birth of a child (in the family and friends domain), a baptism (in the spirituality domain), moving to a new location (in the environment domain), a cruise (in the recreation domain), etc. Furthermore, our failures have the same element of a flip. Some of these include death (in the family and friends domain), a car accident (in the environment domain), the loss of a game (in the recreation domain), negative medical news (in the health domain), and a failing grade (in the education domain). These flips are going to happen and we must be prepared for them.
Fortitude is required to deter our human tendency to waver. Wavering allows us to wonder, wasting valuable time that we do not have. Wavering very easily consumes minutes that turn into hours, hours that turn into days, days that turn into weeks, weeks that turn into months, months that turn into years, and years that turn into decades.
Since flips do not happen in a vacuum and involve us and other stakeholders, sponsorship is important for us when we are handling them. Our associations often promote or prevent the necessary flips of our lives. We often give people access to us who are not deserving of the opportunity and, sometimes, we shun people who we really need. Fellowship in our lives is crucial. It enables us to have courageous conversations with others who can afford for us to do well.
Selflessness is a major ingredient of forward flips because achieving what we want is often stymied when it is only good for us and not others. If we consider whether the benefits of our goals are mutual to self and others, we are beginning at the right point.
We can’t control flips. What we can control is our response to a flip. Our response determines whether it is a forward or potentially backward flip. We must have the conviction that we can master the art of life’s forward flip with fortitude. Mastering the art of life’s forward flip with fortitude requires us to understand that all flips target our future, fortune, forgiveness, and/or faith. We must be prepared to turn all of life’s changes, even those that appear to be backward flips upon their occurrence, into forward flips. We must possess the conviction that everything happens for the good of ourselves and others and that no matter how dim the light of hope may be, we will find and illuminate it to serve as our beacon as we venture forward.
As we journey on, we must possess the conviction that every person, place, or thing that touches our lives deserves the opportunity. Whether we embrace them or not, these will flip us forward or backward. It is better, in general, to control the gate than the exit. Whatever the circumstance, we must possess the tenacity to always demonstrate the art of life’s forward flip with fortitude.
Dr. Nathaniel J. Williams – www.drnatwilliams.com