"This isn't a utopia we live in. I graduated from college the same time you graduated from college. You have a better grade point average than me, and are probably a lot smarter than me, but I've got a better job. Life isn't fair. You just have to continue to tackle the situations and continue to move forward" Luke Fickell, Head Football Coach, The Ohio State UniversityI learned this from a young age, and although I sometimes would forget and think the world was unfair or against me as a kid, I had the word "Attitude" permanently pressed against my mind. It was actually a word that my Maternal Grandmother and I shared which I have no idea what the origin of it was, most likely I had a bad attitude as a kid as I destroyed her house while she babysat me or something. Many times people have heard the slogan "Life's not Fair". My father reminded me of that every time I was not allowed to do something as a kid, which probably means I tried to live at my friends house for an entire week and they made me come home for one night just to prove to me I could not be gone constantly.
But the attitude and perspective is something that became apparent in an interview with the Head Coach of the Ohio State University Football team. As he prepared for Penn State, reporters asked question after question regarding his future as the head football coach (he was subsequently replaced by Urban Meyer which everyone knew would happen) and he wanted to focus on the game of football. Reporters again asked if he thought his situation was "Fair" and if he was given a "Fair Shake". His response to the reporter was a classic line that proves that even in the most ridiculed position, you can maintain your outlook and spin the situation into a rather funny quote.
This isn't a utopia we live in. I graduated from college the same time you graduated from college. You have a better grade point average than me, and are probably a lot smarter than me, but I've got a better job. Life isn't fair. You just have to continue to tackle the situations and continue to move forward- Luke Fickell Head Coach The Ohio State University Football TeamI wanted to include this post not because it has to do with Ohio State Football, but because I saw a big difference in the attitudes of the people I encountered while in Brazil than many I encounter here in the Unites States. People here often seem very up tight, concerned about money, but at the same time despise their jobs. Some of the happiest people I have met in life have been simple country folk where I grew up, who have measurably less wealth than many of the people I come in contact with each day. Its about perspective and "attitude". In Brazil, some of the happiest people that I met were the hotel workers, the taxi cab drivers, the guys cooking food on the street corners, and the cleaning staff. It seemed odd to me that some of the most respectful and pleasant people had the least amount of wealth. I do not know what it is but we need to figure it out and bottle it so that Americans can drink whatever they are drinking.... maybe its the Brazilian coffee!
One of my favorite quotes is also fitting for this topic:
"Everything changes when you change." - Jim Rohn
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