"Things are as big a deal as you make them."

"THINGS ARE AS BIG A DEAL AS YOU MAKE THEM"

I Corinthians 6:7 "Why not just be wronged...why not just be cheated?"

When I die, my children will say..."You know, Dad always said...'things are as a big a deal as you make them."' Most problems we encounter turn out to be "no big deal" when you look back on them 10 years later. Unfortunately we live in a world with way too many big deals. Have you ever considered just being wronged, or just being cheated and just getting on with your life?

One day Mayor LaGuardia addressed the New York Police Department, convinced that they were being too hard on young offenders: When I was a boy,” he declared, “I used to wander around the streets with my friends until we found a horse tied up to a post. Weʼd unhitch him, ride him around town, then tie him up again.” “

Are you trying to tell us,” one of the officers asked, “that the mayor of New York was once a horse thief?” “No,” La Guardia replied.“Iʼm telling you that he was once a boy!”

There is an awful lot that can be learned in the School of failure. But all failure isn't final.

“A young man had just been elected to take over as bank president. He strode into the outgoing bank presidents office and said, “Sir, I would like your advice. What will make me as successful as you?”

The older man looked up from his paper, eyed the young man up and down and curtly said, “Two words: Good decisions!”

The young man thanked the outgoing president and left the office. But then he turned and knocked on the door and said, “Please forgive me for bothering you gain, but how does a person know he is making good decisions?”

The bank president waited for a moment. Then going back to his work, he said, “”One word: Experience!”

The young man nodded and turned to walk out. But before he reached the door, he stopped and turned around.

“Yes?” said the outgoing president, putting the papers down again.

“Well,” the young man asked, “how do I get that experience?”

“Two words,” the man answered. “Bad decisions.”

Bad decisions. Mistakes. Failure. We don’t like to admit it, but we know the terms well. Most often we foresee our failures as the route to our ruin. But that does not have to be the case.

There is a true story about a project manager at IBM who lost the company $10,000,000. Dejectedly, he walked into the presidents office and said, “I’m sorry. I’m sure you will want my resignation. I’ll be gone by the end of the day.”

The president’s response showed his understanding of the value of failure. He said, “Are you kidding? We’ve just invested ten million dollars in your education. We’re not about to let you go, now get back to work.”

Always remember..."things are as big a deal as you make them!"