Sadly, the Lowther Show has been cancelled today. I’m sad for the visitors who have missed an exciting day out, the traders who have lost sales and the organisers who will take a big financial hit. However, for myself, it feels like a treat. Rather like when school was closed with a power cut, and we received an unexpected day off!
Life is full of these kind of surprise events that can easily throw you off course. You have made a plan; you have a target in mind and are quietly and systematically working towards it. Then, out of the blue something comes along that knocks you down.
How do you react? What emotions do you feel?
With my lost earnings from Lowther, I could so easily spend today moaning about my bad luck, complaining about the organisers or the weather. Perhaps even asking why this always happens to me and experiencing a bout of self-pity.
But what good would it do?
It won’t change anything; it won’t get the show back on, and it certainly won’t make me feel any better about the situation or myself.
So today, with a big smile on my face for the unexpected good fortune of a day off, I will write a blog post and then spend all afternoon out on my bike exploring Cumbria. I feel lucky rather than unlucky. Happy rather than angry. Full of joy rather than despair.
Next time you experience something unexpected that you wish hadn’t happened, I urge you to remember that you have the power within you to control your emotional response. You cannot control external events, but you can control the narrative inside your head and how you react.
It’s not easy, especially when you are under pressure and it feels like bad things keep happening. But it is precisely at these moments that you must take a slow and deep breath. Calm yourself and think things through.
First, look for a solution to the immediate problem, and then most importantly look for the good things that can come out of it. This step is the most crucial as it moves you from a self-pity mode into a gratitude mode. The more you practice this, the easier it will get.
Live each day with joy and gratitude in your heart, and I promise that you will experience the life you have always dreamed of.
Together, we climb the mountain, not in giant leaps but one small step at a time.
Well said Luke you have to have a positive attitude diolch yn fawr Eifion.
These let downs happen in life and very often to me too. I admire your positive attitude to this knock back, and I know how difficult it is to be positive as I, and most of my friends and family would agree am the most negative person in the world. I try to be positive but mostly fail. I will try though to take a leaf from your book and be less negative.. Wish me luck.. Andrea
It’s difficult sometimes to find the good in a bad situation but not impossible. I love your take on life and look forward to reading your posts each day. It really is all about attitude and how you handle things. Thank you for your daily posts. Xx
I enjoy reading your posts so much, I am amazed at how brilliant your literary
skills are. I look forward to reading them and take all your comments on board. I look forward to meeting you at the Spirit of Christmas.
I love your positivity lifting me out of my anxieties and now able to form a pathway through today – thank you and bless you.
Hi Luke
Yet another inspirational blog
Like many other of your followers I greatly appreciate reading these blogs
I suffer with mindset
I struggle with let down and disappointment
I do try to always have a contingency for when things do not go to plan and often they do not
You are right we cannot always control the decisions that others make but we have the power to not allow these decisions to derail us from our journey
We just find a different route and accept it may take a little longer
I am so sad to have missed you at the Cotswold Show this summer, I looked in the programme but didn’t see your tradestand advertised ?
Lukee, you are absolutely right with today’s blog. I hope you have a fab day cycling and sightseeing. The natural world is a beautiful place and can restore our sense of well being and peace.
Love Reading all your blogs! Another great one today, hopefully I can act on the inspiration you continually send to everyone. Keep up the great work and enjoy your cycling surrounded by beauty!
Many years ago I read a book written by a prisoner of war. What I took from that book were 2 things. You can not always control what happens to you but you can always control how you choose to react to it and only you can make yourself a victim. I have had and continue to have a very Happy life. Is that luck or a state of mind? I think I know which. ☺️
Totally agree. Be grateful every time you wake up, new day you have “ survived “
What was so important yesterday may have faded . X
Dear Luke,
I love your blogs and I love your products. Your blog just know so resonated with me and is so helpful. I am in on a mission to quieten all the negative thoughts that I attach to so many things in life. life is an energy game for everything is energy. Those people that resonate at a high energetic frequency always come out on top and attract more positivity. Enjoy the lakes, a little spot in Northern lakes is my most favourite place in the world and I give thanks for the abundance of rain because it is such a lush and fertile place of tranquillity.
I love reading your blogs, Luke, I always take something from them & like to keep them to re-read! I often find it hard to be positive & think that bad things happen to me/my family. Your blogs help me to try to look at situations differently, loved your reaction to the cancellation of the show! Thank you.
Allow yourself to be angry, disappointed, downhearted or simply fed up ,
Acknowledge your feelings, But put a time limit on it. Say 12 minutes, so you are
“ in control “ you haven’t pretended it doesn’t matter, but the things in your life that
Are Really Important are still working beautifully.
You choose what they are.
What a great blog! I have heard what you say many times from different sources, but really needed to be reminded today as I complained about the bad weather keeping me from being able to get out for a walk with my baby Grandson in the park today and the annoying broken toilet that I had to wait in for the plumber to fix. Then I read your blog and it reminded me to re-think my situation and to realise that these negatives are a gift. So I am now thinking how lovely it is to have an afternoon to ‘catch up’ with chores indoors, to be lucky enough not to have to work outside in this weather and how grateful I am to have the peace and quiet and have the luxury to be able to choose what I do with my afternoon. I am now looking forward to the sunshine that is forecast tomorrow for my walk with my Grandson and know that it will be a more enjoyable experience. Thank you Luke for sharing such great words and I hope you have a fabulous afternoon out on your bike! I love your products btw!
Yes! So true!
If you haven’t already read it there’s a book called the obstacle is the way thay you would enjoy.
Great blog as always
Absolutely love your blog posts. Such wise words and all the more authentic because you’ve experienced life’s ebbs and flows – just like the rest of us. Keep posting them, they help to put things in perspective especially when I’m having a bad day!
I’ve only just started reading your blogs, but really love them. They are always filled with positive and wise words, with situations that we can all relate to. I find them incredibly helpful and up lifting. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Absolutely love them