The biggest lessons can be learned from the littlest things.  As I was sitting in the living room playing Xbox 360, my controller stopped functioning properly. Everyone who owns an Xbox 360 knows that this is a sign that its time to change the batteries.  As I turned my controller around, and pulled out the batteries, a profound revelation hit me.   I looked at the Duracell batteries and noticed that they had a positive side (+) and a negative side (-). For some reason I found this rather fascinating, that a battery runs off of both a positive and a negative charge!

Then I thought about my life. I thought about the good and the bad, and how they both contributed to who I currently am as a person.   Then it dawned on me that, those who succeed in life have learned to use both positive forces and negative ones to enhance their lives!

Many of us use negative occurences as an excuse to have a pity party. We talk about how bad our luck is, and criticize ourselves. However, successful  people use negative circumstances to energize their lives!  Think about John Walsh from America’s Most Wanted.  His son Adam was kidnapped and murdered by a dangerous criminal. Mr. Walsh could have easily became dismayed and fell into a deep depression.   However, he used that negative energy to start America’s Most Wanted, and as a result of his efforts, hundreds, maybe thousands of dangerous criminals have been taken off the streets. 

Its also important to use the positive experiences in your life to energize you as well.  Many people squander the opportunity to use positive occurences to advance further.   They either are cynical about their good fortune, and believe that bad things will surely follow; or they take their good fortune for granted.  Instead, they need to ride the momentum of their good fortune and turn that into additional positive opportunities!

People living successful, productive, prolific lives understand that both good and bad experiences can drive them toward their goals.   My Xbox controller wouldn’t work without the positive and negative charges from its Duracell batteries, and your life won’t work until you learn to use the positive and negative things you experience to further it.