The following is an extract from Anne Hartley's book Life Lessons. Please note this material is copyright and may not be reproduced. This book can be purchased from our online shop

Life lesson no. 1
There is a gift in every problem

A friend of mine went through a tough year. She dealt with sickness, the death of a
loved one, gave up work and moved house all within a 12 month period. For a long
time she described the year as being, ‘A disaster of a year’. Then one day she wrote
to tell me that she’d decided to change her description of the year to ‘A year of big
changes’. She went on to tell me that although many of the events that she’d
experienced were painful they had resulted in her being happier than she’d ever been
even though she was still grieving.

To wish for a problem free life is to wish for the impossible dream. It simply doesn’t
exist no matter how positive, wealthy, successful or focused you are. The key to
living a happy life is to develop the habit of looking for the gift in your problems.
Life’s problems are often the signposts that tell us that we need to: reassess who we
are, how we respond, if we have beliefs and habits that are holding us back and
whether our choices make us, and the people we care about, happy.

Life’s problems are simply life’s way of telling you it’s time to review. By accepting
the challenge and looking for the good you can transform your life.




Life lesson no. 3
Your everyday choices either take you towards your dreams or away
from them

When Barry worked as a department head for a large corporation he had to report on
the profitability of his department to senior management every three months. For five
years his department was one of the company’s most profitable. The first time his
department recorded a loss he decided to cover up the figures believing he could turn
them around by the next quarter and no-one would be any the wiser.

Six months later Barry’s department continued to lose money, and he continued to
cover up. His deception was discovered during the annual audit and he was asked to
leave. His employers refused to recommend him and he found it impossible to gain
employment at the same level.

At that time Barry had been happily married to Margaret for 12 years and they had
two children. Barry didn’t tell Margaret the real reason why he had lost his job. He
just blamed his employers, so when he suggested they sell their house and use the
money to go into business she fully supported him. His business struggled from the
beginning and he told more lies. Eventually the business collapsed and they lost their
life savings. Their marriage disintegrated when Barry abdicated all financial
responsibility for his family.

Margaret had to find a way to support herself and her children even though she hadn’t
worked outside of the home for 15 years. Unable to find work she started a homebased
business, making lamp shades. Five years later she was able to buy a home for
herself and her children, she was happy and successful. Barry was working in a dead
end job that paid a minimal wage, he lived alone and had no contact with his family.
Most people go through life reacting to what happens to them, and some of those
responses are positive and some negative. Barry’s reactions took him away from his
desires while Margaret’s choices helped her create the life she desired.

The way to make consistently positive choices is to understand and live by your
values. By doing this you improve the quality of your life on a daily basis and you
will also find that when you are faced with a challenge, or life crisis, your automatic
responses will support you and your choices.