June 9, 2025

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. It may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, and how you can still come out of it.” - Maya Angelou

Whenever I have moments that I feel like I can’t do the hard parts of life, I think of our Grandma Olson. Through her attitude and actions, she taught us:

 …what hard work looks like; what taking care of a family looks like; what faith looks like; what sacrifice, and humility look like; what honesty looks like; what handling heartache gracefully looks like; what rising above life’s circumstances with the right attitude looks like; what mental toughness looks like.

Here’s an example: While at my grandpa's funeral, I was sitting alongside her and my aunt Janice. As I could feel my aunt's shoulders begin to bounce as she started to cry, my grandma, staring straight ahead, kicked her under the pew and firmly whispered, "You're tough!"

That moment has been ingrained in me for several decades and is now being passed on to my children. It makes us laugh, but more importantly, it strengthens our everyday style, reminding us that if she could do the hard parts of life with conviction, so will we.  

We never become excellent in our actions if we don’t first decide in advance to commit to becoming excellent in our thoughts. Like the wind which carries one ship east, and another west, the law of autosuggestion (what we repeatedly say to ourselves) will lift or pull us down, according to the way we set our sails of thought. It is well described in the following verse:

If you think you are beaten, you are.

If you think you dare not, you don’t.

If you like to win, but think you can’t, it’s almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost.

For out of the world we find, success begins with a person’s will – it’s all the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are.

You’ve got to think high to rise. You’ve got to be sure of yourself before you can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or the faster; the one who wins is the person who thinks he can.

As life unfolds, focus on allowing your mind to work for you rather than against you. In every encounter, we have three options: we can let it define us, let it destroy us, or let it strengthen us.

Intentionally Own It! What personalized growth does this message encourage me to pursue, and why does it matter? When will I take action, and what value will it add to my life and the lives of others when I do?