It Is What It Is - It Was What It Was.

Walking up the 10th hole this week, I had a moment of clarity.  The 10th hole on the Carrick Course at Loch Lomond that is.  Perhaps one of the most spectacular views in all of golf (or so claims the blurb).  It truly is magnificent.. See the picture and you'll get an idea.

I had just received an email that was - I have to say - a tad frustrating.  My game had gone to shreds as a result as I was finding it difficult to concentrate.  Given that I spend most of my time developing people's self awareness, high performance thinking and a winning mindset, the most annoying thing about this was that I knew exactly what I was doing to myself.

I turned to my playing partner and expressed my frustration - explaining the situation to him.

"It is what it is"... I said to him in a genuine effort to put it into perspective.

Then it hit me..while the 'it' was there, it would remain.  I had to do something rather than just try to forget it.  'It is what it is' had to become 'it was what it was'.  Simply saying it differently shifted the issue in my mind.

To really overcome something, must we not (at least in some way) put it in the past?  Some facts are not great - that is plain.  We can live with them and battle their gnawing effects - or we can DO something and put them behind us properly - and in the process find a solution.

What will you DO to make 'It is what it is' - 'It was what it was'?

*In the end it turned out to be a misunderstanding.  Something that need not be worried about at all.  Isn't hindsight wonderful?  Indeed hindsight is only possible when something IS in the past - sound familiar?