Problems never leave us the way they found us. Every person is affected by the tough times. No one emerges from a problem untouched by tough times.

Recently I was talking to a super successful salesperson. His income is in the six-figure bracket. When I inquired about his training, I was surprised to learn that his degree is in history and education.

"Dr. James, the truth is that I was a very boring teacher. Because I was boring, my students were restless and I failed to communicate to them. I was a boring teacher because I was a bored teacher. My boredom rubbed off on the students. It was not a good situation. Because I had a problem with stu- dents, my contract was not renewed-actually I was fired. When the school fired me I became so angry I decided to go out and make something of myself. I went out and landed a better job."

And then he shared a gem of a line. He looked at me with flashing eyes and said, "I had to get fired before I got fired up!" He went on to explain. "Basically, I was too lethargic My contract cancellation jolted me out of a lazy rut. I'll always be grateful that I was fired, for it made me angry enough at myself to get up and get going."

You can choose what your problem will do to you.

You may not be able to control the times, but you can compose your response. You can turn your pain into profanity or into poetry. The choice is up to you. You may not have chosen your difficult moments, but you can choose how you will react to it.

how far do you apply positive thinking?"

A friend answered: "I apply it in the areas over which I have control." He continued, "If I buy a plane and the plane crashes, I have no control over that." I thought about that for a long time.

In a subsequent meeting with him, I said to him, "I apply possibility thinking not only in the areas of life over which I have control but over every area of life." He looked puzzled. I explained. "Actually, he said, we can control our reaction even when we cannot control the problem."

When you control your reaction to the seemingly uncontrollable problems of life, then in fact you do control the problem's effect on you. Your reaction to the problem is the last word! That's the bottom line. What will you let this problem do to you?

It can make you tender or harden. It can make you better or bitter. It all depends on you.