Off the Cuff with Jacqueline Ross – April 2023
By Jacqueline Ross
Greetings, Humans,
It was Franklin D. Roosevelt who once said, “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” I don’t plan on purchasing a sailboat anytime soon, but throughout the course of my life, and especially over the last seven months, I have taken some plunges into deep waters, ones I’ve never imagined sticking my big toe in, let alone trying to swim. In a bizarre way, I’ve never felt more confident and excited to face my next tidal wave.
Have you ever gotten to a point in your life where you’ve been faced with so much adversity, hardship, and disappointment that you really start to question your existence on this planet? Yet, despite the “temporary inconveniences” as I like to call them, you don’t complain or make excuses. You take full ownership of your part in the situations at hand, and handle them as best as you can from the wisdom that you currently possess. Rather than play the blame game or the victim card, you learn how to walk through the fire and face the obstacles head on, struggling and stumbling, but you continue to move forward. Your heart is strong and so is your faith. You cannot be shaken. You may only be taking small steps, but this time your feet imprint the earth with more vigor and determination than you’ve ever had before.
When you’ve been broken so many times and continue to rise up again and again, you develop another layer to your character and spirit. From personal experience, I now understand this type of character development can only happen when you no longer try to avoid or run away from adversity, hardship, and disappointment. Rather than run, you stand with your heels in the ground, face to face with your challenge, and you make up your mind that you won’t be defeated. It is then when you’ll realize you truly are powerful beyond measure.
Perhaps next time, when you find yourself in the stormy seas of life, just remember, you already know how to swim.
As you were,
Jacqueline
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