All of us have felt this way at one time or another. Nothing is going our way and it’s just too hard to slog through the quicksand to get anything done.

So, what do we do to pull ourselves out of that funk? How do we fire up the engine to rally up and get ourselves moving again?

How Do We Get Back on Track?

With all of the fires continuing to threaten Northern California, I continue to think about the countless tragedies our neighbors face … and how they will find the strength to carry on.
In fact, there are many other painful disappointments that cross the paths of us humans, aren’t there?
So, I thought I’d share with you a short list of some simple swing thoughts that all of us can grab to help us get moving again.
You only need one of these mantras to recite, over and over again as needed, to help you get out of bed and give ’em hell.

1. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

This is a good swing thought to get us get moving again… to help us put the past behind and do what we can do NOW to move forward.
As much as we’d like to, we can’t change the past, we can only make new history.
This notion should inspire you to seek hope for the future and leave despair in the dust.

2. When walking through hell, keep walking.

Adversity strikes everyone, lurks everywhere and can strike without warning.
When it strikes, keep moving, don’t stop to dwell on “why me”.
Just keep moving forward.
No stopping allowed.

3. God grant me the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things I can’t and the wisdom to know the difference.

What I have often thought of as the Quaker prayer has also been attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr.
It’s an invaluable construction that can eliminate distraction over what we can’t control, like the weather and world peace … and hold us accountable for what we can control and not what has been done to us.
The quicker we can release the hold on us gripped by what we can’t control … particularly the immutable past … the sooner we’ll find the energy to press on.

4. This, too, will pass.

Time has almost supernatural powers, wrapping our travails in a magical sieve through which they slowly dissipate.
This reassures us that the immediate pain will subside as we renew our commitment to a brighter future.

5. Life isn’t fair.

There’s a reason that “Fair” is a four-letter F-word.
Sometimes, we’re rewarded when we make bad decisions; sometimes we suffer from good ones.
Fairness is not the yardstick of our success.
Achievement is, and it requires renewed devotion when adversity intervenes.

6. It could be a lot worse.

No one is exempt, and many bear much greater burdens than we face in the business arena.
Need I remind anyone of injured war veterans, desperately sick infants or other painful examples?
Keep those less fortunate in mind — there but for the grace of God go I — as you battle back from the abyss.

7. Never, never, never, never give up.

With these famous words, Winston Churchill inspired a nation to overcome the odds and fight back the Nazi threat in World War II.
He left no room for weaseling or whining.
So, when nothing else works, Woman Up. Man Up. Buck Up.
Have your two-minute pity party.
Churchill was also famous for the three-letter sign off he included in everything he wrote at that time … a powerful acronym in classic British parlance …
KBO.
Keep Buggering On.

Question: Will you share your favorite Swing Thought that helps you navigate through difficult times?

Let me know and we’ll build on that to expand our discussion of these ideas and concepts.