Why Me?

As 2012 comes to a close, how often have you asked yourself “Why Me?” It’s often asked when things don’t go your way – didn’t get into the college of your choice, didn’t get the job you wanted, getting diagnosed with a terminal illness, bought Apple stock at $25 and then sold it at $50, can’t find the right person to get married to, waiting to start a family, etc…

Yeah, when you look at the above list only one truly stands out – getting diagnosed with a terminal illness.  Yet, we all think what we are going through is absolutely the worst possible thing in the world and wonder why is it happening to me?

I’ve been there and I’m sure you’ve been there. No matter how many people are around you and trying to keep your spirits high it’s a lonely place. And that’s the issue, you feel all alone and think no one else has gone through what you are experiencing…WRONG.

Bad business decision? I recently met someone who owned about 10 acres of land in Bombay and sold it 12 years ago for next to nothing since it was a liability and not an asset. Today that property is easily worth $500 million dollars…doh.

Bad business decision (part 2)? I ran into someone who mentioned his family had the chance to own 50% of a large mobile operator in Asia. Today that mobile operator is worth $10 billion. They passed on the opportunity because they felt it wouldn’t turn into anything big…well the Indian mobile industry has been the shining star and the rest is history.

Didn’t get the job you wanted? I didn’t get my “dream job” and was constantly asking “why me”. Out of college I wanted to work for Summit Consulting in Indianapolis, Indiana. They were doing some “cool” stuff with IBM AS/400’s, what a joke. My “plan b” was to work at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) where I actually got to work on bleeding edge technology and travel the world on the company dime. I’m so glad my “dream job” didn’t pan out.

The good news is that once you get through it, you can move on.  The outcome might be positive or negative but if you keeping asking “why me” that can only translate into negative thoughts and that doesn’t help anyone. With 2013 just around the corner, think forward and think positive.