You Have 2 Options: Dance or Drown

A few years ago, I spent four wonderful days in Kona, Hawaii, where I had the pleasure of speaking to a well-known financial group.

My job was to give them the tools they needed to embrace the changes and intense growth they were then experiencing and would inevitably continue to experience in the coming years. I knew tensions were high, but I was prepared. And this is why:

The morning before my speech, I was having breakfast, and as the waitress was pouring my coffee, I asked about what I’d observed on the Big Island: “Why is it that no matter where they are, or what they are doing, Hawaiians always seem to be happy and at peace with themselves? What’s the secret?”

She laughed and looked around as if to make sure that no one was listening, and in a low voice she replied, “Mr. Rizzo, today is your lucky day. For today I will tell you the secret that most Hawaiian people live by.” She sat down in the chair next to me, motioned me to get closer and whispered in my ear, “We dance in the rain.”

Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a laminated card and handed it to me. “This is for you. It really is a secret that should be shared with everyone.” What was printed on that card?

Don’t wait for the storms of your life to pass. Learn to dance in the rain.

Read that again, my friend. That statement is a touchstone for living a happy, satisfying life of success, especially when you are experiencing intense change and growth of any kind. That, in part, is the message I shared with the financial group—right after I finished my breakfast.

“Dancing in the rain” is an attitude that truly happy and successful people live by and few dancers come by it naturally. Can you learn to dance in the rain when the storms of change and misfortune are pouring down on you? I believe the answer is yes. It’s a matter of shifting your focus and way of thinking when times are tough that make the difference.

When the storms of life are raining down on you, you can muster up enough courage to dance and be grateful for the things you have, or you can drown as you curse your challenges and unfortunate circumstances. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take dancing over drowning any day!

So, will you choose to dance?

As seen in SUCCESS Magazine

Please feel free to share your thoughts and insights. I welcome all comments.