In Every Issue

Lessons Learned

Determination

By Pardee

Do people read magazines from front to back or back to front? The answer has been debated for as long as I can remember. Honestly, I don’t know and I’m uncertain anyone truly knows… maybe you start in the middle! Is the right hand page better than the left? Again, you’ll hear many answers – as a result we make sure every page of Alternative Trends is worth a visit. We don’t care where you start as long as you are reading Alternative Trends.

Kind words from the ones I admire most have been the reason I was able to get through this past year. Being an entrepreneur is not easy, but it is the most rewarding role I have played in my life thus far. As a young girl I dreamed of getting married, having three children and living happily ever after. I didn’t imagine being an entrepreneur was in my future, and yet everyone in my life seems to think I was always a career woman. Growing up in a time where children could walk to school without their parents and play at the playground unsupervised seems so long ago – and yet it was just yesterday. I am grateful to have been fortunate enough to grow up in this time – where grandparents told us stories of how when they were our age they walked miles in the snow, both ways to every destination you could think of. We laugh, because we have all heard an example of this; truth is, in parts of the world, this time still exists.

Working from 5a.m. until midnight every day is not luck; finding the words to fill these blank pages before you is not luck; finding the time to make every person feel like they are the only ones in my life; also, not luck. I hear the words “you are so lucky” all too often, and want to remind everyone that I do believe in luck, but luck alone is not what I depend on. It is determination that keeps me lucky. I worked with a girl five years ago and she was sketching words in Japanese for clients. I asked her if she would consider doing a sketch for me – of course, she was delighted to. When I originally asked, I believed it was going to be an easy task. She brought me a binder of words that she could sketch and asked me to pick one. There were some great words and to be honest, I put the list down as it was causing me anxiety – there were too many great choices. I had work to do and didn’t want this on my list of things to do. She approached me a few days later and asked me if I had picked my word yet, I told her I was determined to pick one by the end of the day but had to get other stuff done first. Determined, hmmm… wait a minute that’s it: my word that I use all the time, and didn’t even know it. I ran to her and asked if she could sketch determination.

While she worked on the new inspiration for my office, the only task I had left was to find the perfect frame for my new masterpiece. Frame found, task accomplished – the sense of accomplishment is a result of determination in many cases.

I looked at the word determination every day, written in small letters below the script I couldn’t translate. Still today – same frame, same picture – still motivating me through my days. Thank you, Jennifer.

May you all find your word of inspiration – providing you the luck and energy to get through your journey each day.

Please continue to share your lessons with me as I believe no one is perfect and everyone has something they can teach, everyone can learn and life should be experienced.

Enjoy these lessons from our readers, famous poets, and even some of my own:

Start small but think tall

Remember to laugh, live, breathe and don’t ever forget to eat. Feed your mind.

There are infinite possibilities in little beginnings

Tough times never last, but tough people do

Seek to understand before seeking the need to be understood

Share your knowledge and expertise and continue to learn

The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year. – John Foster Dulles

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. – Thomas Edison

Life must be lived and curiosity kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Take a vacation this year; spend more time with your family and friends, keep warm, appreciate your staff, and enjoy life.