No matter when or where you’re reading this it’s going to get dark out at night. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s likely to happen sometime after the sun goes down. Assuming of course that the sun does indeed go down.

Try not to be too upset when the darkness arrives because I’m equally confident that light will return the next day. That’s very very likely to happen shortly after sunrise. 

I can predict those things with great confidence because they are inevitable. A short definition of inevitable is “sure to happen” or “unavoidable.” So while some people may not think it’s much of a prediction, others will act as if I can see into the future. 

That’s because some people cooperate with the inevitable and some people fight it as if they can somehow change the unchangeable. The most successful people know what is inevitable and what isn’t. They change what they can and when faced with the inevitable things of life they accept them. They adjust their attitudes about them in order to focus on those things they can control and change.

Less successful people don’t always distinguish between what they can control and what they can’t. They spend precious time, sweat and tears, often lots and lots of tears, trying to change things that are not changeable. Frequently they try to change other people too. Generally speaking, trying to change other people is the biggest waste of time and effort. You can try to help people change themselves but if they don’t see a need to change, they ain’t changing. The fact that some people will never change is perhaps life’s greatest inevitability.

It is inevitable that there will be parts of most jobs that people won’t like. If you’re in a customer service roll there will be some very difficult people to deal with. If you’re in a sales roll there will be people who won’t buy from you…ever. If you’re a doctor there will be people who pay good money for your diagnosis and then ignore your advice. If you paint lines on streets there will inevitably be some knucklehead who will immediately drive over your newly painted line.

Those things are just gonna happen. Allowing them to negatively affect your attitude or ruin your entire day is as crazy as getting upset when it gets dark out at night. 

Never allow things beyond your control to upset you to the point that you don’t control the things you can. Especially the one thing you and you alone have complete control over, your attitude. 

Don’t be surprised when the inevitable happens, smile and say to yourself, “yep, I saw that coming about 100 miles away.” Then go about your day as if you did indeed see it coming, because you should have. 

Some readers of this post will find it useful some will not…I’m okay with that because I know it’s inevitable. 🙂