August 18, 2023 by Brian Weiner No CommentsChanging The World One Thought At A Time., Lessons From The Mountain

I’ve had nothing before, and I’ve sacrificed too much, to never have nothing again.

JONATHAN TROPPER

Have you ever hit the end of the line?

When you discovered you were in this predicament, how did you turn your life around?

When you infused your world with that mentality, how did circumstances evolve around you as a result?

Once you had reversed the tide of your misfortune, did that change your perspective on life?

We are given gifts in life. They come in disguised packages, and they are many times, not what we wanted at all. In fact, at the moment that they are happening, we would be most certain to attest to the fact that they are the last gift in the world that we would want… ever.

When I was 19, my mother put a beautiful collection of her favorite aphorisms into a book for me. This one stood out for me at that age, because I just did not comprehend the impact of what it was saying…

“There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands… you seek problems, because you need their gifts.”

I thought to myself (at the time) that this one was convoluted and not as accurate as the others. Decades later, I see it as a core truth.

If you are truly a continuous work in progress, and determined to improve upon whom you are, each and every day, you will ultimately discover this to not only be true, but also to become a way of life.

I have often said that a road with no obstacles, leads nowhere.

These obstacles give us cause to assess what has transpired, to evaluate what we are going to have to do to overcome the obstacle and ultimately, facilitates the moments of personal and professional growth.

The growth may be quite painful and most certainly not what you might have ever expected or desired, but if you are living by this perspective, you will find your way through those variables and triumph on the other side.

Does a problem really provide you with a gift that you needed? I believe when you see life through this perspective, it most certainly does.

So when you find yourself having prevailed over such an obstacle, you become that much more determined to ensure you never find yourself in similar circumstances again. Your resolution becomes emboldened. Your will has increased proportionately. Your life experience has empowered you to make a smarter decision. And most importantly…. Your tenacity and determination prevent you from ever slipping back into the abyss from whence you came.

Happy Friday!

https://brianweiner.com

Today’s aphorism comes from the show The Warrior, on Max. If you have not seen it, it is a tremendous series, that truly delivers on all fronts.

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Written by Brian Weiner

When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!