Well, there is a lot to be said about adversity.  It will either make you stronger or it will break you.  It can make you question your sanity ,and make you fall back into your comfort zone.  Success is what you make of it!  Some people's view of success is a big car, fancy house, or lots of money in the bank.  There is nothing wrong with any of those things, but some things require baby steps and a lot of recognition to achieve!  Some people want to be famous!  Being in the spot light has it's up and down side too!  You have to decide what success is and what it looks like to you!  We all have dreams, and it is okay that they are not the same as someone else.   That is what makes life interesting!  Can you imagine if EVERY SINGLE PERSON had the same dream, the same goal?  If EVERYBODY looked the same, talked, walked, and acted the same?  It would be maddening!  We would have no diversity, no style, no personality!  If EVERYBODY invented the wheel, our world would be crowded with that one particular item.  We would not have iPhones, stereos, television, books about adventure, mobile groomers, creative groomers, world class chef's or any other type of artist!  We would be stuck with a world full of rock wheels!

I read a book by Burke Hedges called "You can't steal second with your foot on first base".  The teaching from that one little book taught me a lot about pushing myself beyond my comfort zone.  Also that you have to celebrate the small accomplishments that get you to the overall goal. If I make at least 3 contacts each day when I go out, that is a success!  If I totally rocked a Bichon Frise breed cut....you got it!  That is a celebration! Break out the Pepsi it's party time!  Not all of the celebrations come from a positive event.  Sometimes you have to celebrate your resilience over a not so positive event.  Being self-employed in a mobile grooming business, time is definitely money, when you get a call from a client cancelling their appointment as you pull up in their driveway, and you don't go home a quit give yourself a pat on the back!  When sub

zero winter weather is  making the waterlines freeze or break in your truck.  If insane howler monkey winds are blowing that make mobile grooming impossible.  Maybe it was that ninja cat that tried to gingsu your face off when you tried to fluff- dry it.  You know the one.....the one the parents told you that she gets groomed all the time,  the only to discover that it pretty much boiled down to the "kids" throwing her in a tub of water.  Now you are trapped in a box with this she-devil growling at you like a mountain lion. If you can survive tire blow outs, running out of water, air conditioners breaking down or side swiping a brick wall trying to get a 10 and half foot tall truck out of very tight parking space.  Then you have what it takes to make it in the business or any other.  Sometimes we can run ourselves into a brick wall without realizing it.  It was said that insanity is doing the same thing the same way expecting a different outcome.  If you find yourself running into the same brick wall over and over again.  It is time to stop, take a deep breath and take a look at the situation.  Somebody maybe try to tell you....HEY look at this for a minute.  Down time can be a positive instead of a negative.  Give your self a chance to take your eyes off the problem for a moment and come back to it again.  You could be completely overlooking the simplest solution right in front of your face! 

Getting bogged down in the what you may think is a mountain of problems can make you lose sight of why you started you venture in the first place.  Every cloud has a silver lining.  You have to be willing to wipe your eyes and check out of the pity party room.  Turn those lemons into lemonade and keep it moving.  Remember if you are going thru hell whatever you do.....DON'T STOP THERE!!!!