How to be grateful, even when times are tough. . .

Although I know to whom gratitude is directed, and that it shouldn’t be me or a fitness coach, I thought this e-mail from “Coach Tyler” had merit because it reminds us that setbacks are often a push forward.  Many of his points are quite Biblical (and since for many fitness/nutrition is the new God, I understand that). Even the word Eucharist means Thanksgiving!  He writes about three setbacks—a car accident, a job loss, and injuries that could have ended his successful private training business created after overcoming the first two: I promise if you read this whole email, you’ll be grateful you did :-) To start… First, let me explain what true gratitude is. Then, I wanna share with you 3 short stories from my life that will drive this point home. Let's dive in... Gratitude… many people think that in order to be grateful, you must have circumstances in your life that push you to experience gratitude. If life is good, you are grateful, if life is bad however… you throw a stink and tell yourself, “poor me.” While any gratitude is better than no gratitude, the most important kind of gratitude you must develop is called unconditional gratitude. Much like unconditional love where you love someone without conditions, unconditional gratitude is where you are grateful regardless of the circumstances that are happening to you in your life. And… One of the best ways to develop this is to remind yourself that with every hard hill you must climb, there is an easy slope waiting for you on the other side. In fact, here’s my personal life motto… “Everything That Happens To You Happens For A Good Reason. It’s Your Responsibility To Find That Reason!” Nowadays, when something bad happens to me, I look for the lessons, I look for the learning opportunities that came from my struggles. And… I assume that these bad circumstances are there to guide me towards something greater than I ever thought was possible. Let me explain... My first big lesson in unconditional gratitude came over a decade ago when I was hit by a car and ended up in the hospital where I had to relearn how to walk after more then 3 months of painful recovery! At first, I considered this a curse, and… like most people, I played the “poor me” game for several weeks. However… This accident is what led me down the path to learning the workout techniques I used to transform my body. And… It ultimately resulted in the creation of all of the Warrior Made workouts that we send out every week! Having seen this unfold in front of my eyes, I began to realize that life has a plan for me and it has one for you too! Then… Years later, something terrible happened… I lost my job! You see… At the time I was working a construction job and my wife was going to school full time. I worked every weekend just to make a living and to pay the rent. I can even remember my wife calling me to ask if she could buy a cup of coffee… It was Wednesday and I told her that she would have to wait until Friday. What a terrible feeling, not being able to provide a cup of coffee to the person you love most in this world. But… Like I said, it got worse… Work got slow and I got laid off! I can remember walking into my bedroom, my wife looking at me with eyes that knew something was wrong. I said to her, “I lost my job today” she looked up and said… “Ohh, you had me worried that someone died (I’m a bit dramatic). So what if you lost your job, you’re the smartest guy I know, this is the best thing that ever happened to you!” And… she was right! I went to work for myself, I busted my ass and ultimately built a successful personal training practice and boot-camp program through a local gym. As you can see... Another low point in my life actually turned out to be the catalyst to me finding success in teaching people how to transform their bodies and lives. But... That too didn’t last long… At the time I was working from 6am to 7pm 5 days a week and more on the weekends. If you came by the gym, I was likely there and I prided myself on my work ethic and on the fact that I did whatever I could to help my clients succeed! Then… One night I went to an adult gymnastics class with a friend of mine and it happened again… I was trying some new gymnastic moves that I probably shouldn’t have been doing and out of nowhere, my right knee collapsed and I tore my ACL, MCL, LCL, Quad and Meniscus! Overnight, I realized that there was one huge flaw in my “successful” bootcamp and private training programs… If I wasn’t there, everything failed! Which led me to 2 options… Let my programs fall apart because I couldn’t show up, or… figure out how to run my business from my laptop on my couch! I again busted my ass, learning how to automate my gym programs and eventually, I started a blog with much of the same content I was sharing with my students. After a few months, I was working less and less on the boot-camps and more and more on my online business and within 1 year of starting my first online community, I replaced my entire income from running private training and boot-camps! This led me to where I am today, the proud owner of Warrior Made! Which... Is growing so fast that I can hardly believe my eyes! And… I owe all of it to getting hit by a car, losing my job and brutally injuring my right knee in a sporting accident! All things that would leave people angry, upset and irritable! Instead... I was able to find the good in these things and today, I wouldn’t change a thing. In fact... I'm eternally grateful for everything in my life including the seemingly hard times! So… My gift for you on Thanksgiving is this… Right now, take a moment to think about your past, to find something that you may have considered a curse at the time but eventually became a blessing. Once you have that in your mind, take a second to realize that most of the bad things that are happening to you right now, are just currents in your river of life, coaxing you towards becoming the best version of yourself. And… Everything that's happened to you up to this point has happened for a reason. Perhaps even a good one? It’s your responsibility to find that reason and make a positive impact on the world! Happy Thanksgiving Norma and don’t forget to be unconditionally grateful for everything that happens in your life! Coach Tyler