I’m a Leon Bridges fan and love his vintage soul sound. He has a song out now called “Bad Bad News”, and as a lover of song lyrics, I’m sharing this snippet of the song:
They tell me I was born to lose
But I made a good, good thing out of bad, bad news
Can you identify? I know I can both in my own life many times over, and in the stories of various people, we have seen rising from adversity over the years. Here are a few well-known people who are great examples:
Stephen King got rejected thirty times when attempting to publish “Carrie”, eventually throwing the book in the trash. His wife encouraged him to finish it. We all know the rest of that story. His books have sold over 350 million copies and have been made into countless major motion pictures.
Oprah Winfrey is one of the most successful and richest people in the world today, and most people know she had a difficult time growing up. A few of the worst facts are her cousin, uncle and family friend repeatedly molested her. She eventually ran away from home, and at age 14 gave birth to a baby boy who shortly died after. A far cry from the story of inspiration this remarkable woman is today.
Van Gogh is considered one of the greatest artists of all time. I love his work and was lucky enough to visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. He lived and died poor, only making it through life due to the ongoing help of his brother. Vincent sold one painting the entire time he was alive. Even though he made no money, he still painted 2100 works of art. Though his persistence went unnoticed when he was alive, Van Gogh proves you don’t need external validation to be proud of the work you create.
And here are some who possibly aren’t as well known but just as inspiring:
Jamie Brewer is an American actress and model known for her roles in the hugely popular American Horror Story series. Brewer is also the first model with Down Syndrome to walk the catwalk at New York Fashion week as part of a “Role Models Not Runway Models” show. You can check her out on Wikipedia. She is beautiful and inspirational.
Ursula Burns started life in a single parent household in the public housing projects in the violent neighborhood of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She ended up as the CEO of Xerox from 2009-2016. She was the first black women to make it in the Forbes 500 and is ranked the 22nd most powerful women in the world.
Chris Gardner is an unbelievable entrepreneur and motivational speaker. You know that movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” starring Will Smith? It’s based on Gardner’s life story. Gardner had a very unhappy childhood with an absent father, an abusive stepfather, and a mother who was imprisoned twice because of his stepfather’s actions. He was homeless with his small son for about a year. He eventually started his own business venture Gardner Rich & Co; He’s now worth $60 million.
What’s your Bad, Bad News that turned into a Good, Good Thing? You know, that thing that was the worst news ever and turned into a big blessing, a new start, a road you would never have taken if given an alternative. I’d like to hear about it.
If you’re currently dealing with bad news or a difficult situation, I can help. Let’s take a look at what’s going on in your life and see if we can turn it into good news by changing our perception on the situation.
“Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.” — Randy Pausch
