What Happens Next?

Here’s one of life’s strangest secrets: It’s not what happens to you that makes the difference. It’s what you decide will happen after.History is filled with hero’s journeys about individuals who used the heat of horrific suffering to forge steely determination to transform pain into immense forward progress. In fact, every powerful life story rests on the foundation of discomfort, setbacks and distress.Especially now, when we have positioned ourselves amid a seismic and frightening current reality, what happens next… what we decide to do next will determine our future.One of my favorite maxims is, “Everyone we meet is carrying a burden we know nothing about.” That includes each of us. Trauma is a universal experience. Those who don’t let it show are simply better at hiding the effects.We celebrate individuals who rise above their circumstances, despite uncomfortable lessons. A commonality of extraordinary achievement is overcoming obstacles, many of which we self-create as the result of painful experience.Where are you now? How did you get here? Those are easy questions to answer. The most important question is this: What will you do next?Letting things happen is a decision. Silence is a decision. Both instances contribute to outcomes that will determine how future generations will regard our legacy.It is never over until we stop contributing. Whether we like it or not, this is a story we will write, one way or another.What will your next chapter be?