BY JEFF CORBETT

Journalist Tim McGuire shared a story about an old priest in Seattle who got up early every morning to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and then walked downtown to give them to the homeless.

A friend of McGuire’s was visiting Seattle and saw the priest’s ministry in action. He was so impressed that, upon returning home, he mailed the priest a check with a note saying it was to help pay for more sandwiches.

Several weeks later, the man received a response from the priest. Inside the envelope was the uncashed check along with a note scribbled across it that said “Make your own sandwiches.”

It’s Up to You

McGuire told that story in a speech to newspaper circulation managers, with this message: Yes, their business is seeing tough times, but it’s up to them to evolve it and reinvent it.

That message rings so true for you as well — in your work and your life.

Your life and your world are changing so rapidly, which leaves you two choices: inventory your life and reinvent it to reach your maximum happiness and potential, or be buried by the approaching landslide of change.

The Lesson of the Dog

There’s a story from a farm in eastern North Carolina. During the drought, a well had dried up, leaving a 25-foot hole in the ground.

The farmer’s dog had fallen in the failed well, and as it was too narrow for a man to fit in, he tried every other way possible to get the dog out, to no avail.

The farmer knew what he had to do, as much as it hurt. A truckload of dirt was brought in, and they begin filling in the well with the dog at the bottom.

Being a significant hazard, this sadly was the only resolution.

The dog yelped and hollered, they kept shoveling, and soon the dog went silent.

The farmer leaned over and peered down in the hole, to see the dog wagging its tail.

You see, when the dirt landed on the dog, it shook it off and took a step up. Using the dirt, the dog finally got high enough for the farmer to rescue it.

The Dumping Ground

Life will dump a lot of things on you, too, with dirt being just one of them. It’s not that this won’t happen; it’s all in how you deal with it when it does. You either shake it off and take a step up, or you get buried alive.

The bottom line is this—your success in anything is up to you, no one else.

Keep Your Focus

This is a great time for reinventing yourself, and becoming who, deep down, you know you can be. But doing so takes intent and focus.

On separate occasions, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were each asked this question: “What one word describes the reason you have become so incredibly successful?”

Each thought a moment, then replied “focus.”

What gives a laser its incredible power? Focus does. A laser beam becomes most intense at its focal point—the spot where the beam is narrowest and most concentrated.

Focus turns a stream of light into a needle of energy. Without it, a laser is just fancy light. With focus, it’s a tool of transformation.

You are the same as a laser. You, too, can see transformation when you have focus on who you are, who you want to become, and what you are best at and love to do.

You have untapped potential, and it’s time to let it see daylight. How close are you to living a life of personal abundance? I’m not talking about accumulating things.

If you are brave enough, focus and do a spring cleaning of yourself. It’s easy to think you’ll live forever, but living in the moment, the now, is where the magic truly is.

Tap Your Creativity

Today’s job market is very tight, especially when you’re competing with 2,000 other applicants for the same position advertised online.

If you are seeking work or wanting to find a better position as a part of your reinvention, differentiate yourself from the pack and be creative in your approach to landing a job.

In “The Speaker’s Sourcebook,” Glenn Van Eckeren tells this story:

“A young journalist, eager to begin his career, found what seemed to be the perfect opportunity advertised in the newspaper. He called the newspaper and was informed that applicants would be interviewed at ten o’clock the next morning.

With resume in hand, the young man arrived early the next morning. However, to his dismay, he found nine other hopeful journalists in line ahead of him. He took his place in line, looked over his competition, and then after a moment’s thought he wrote a note.

He handed it to the secretary and told her it was very important that her boss see it at once. When her boss read the note, he grinned and found himself eager to meet the young man who had written the note. The note read: ‘Dear Sir: I’m the young man who is tenth in line. Please don’t make any decisions until you see me.’ ”

Creativity, thinking differently, and going outside the box are rare skills these days. They will set you apart in all things you do, not just job-hunting.

Make It Happen!

Is the way you thought or did things five or ten years ago still working for you?

Turn off your TV, mute your cellphone, take a walk in nature for an unhurried moment to think of what you can do that would make your life more enjoyable and more meaningful.

Done correctly, as you go through life, you are constantly changing and improving.

My philosophy and something I do every five years — sometimes more frequently — is to pause and review my life, both the good and the bad, to see where I’ve made poor decisions or mistakes, and lay out a course for my life over the next five years.

Sometimes in this exercise, I see that it’s time to turn the page or do something different with my life, to be at my point of prime potential. I encourage you to do the same.

The Reverend Anthony Dalla Villa’s eulogy of Andy Warhol in St. Patrick’s Cathedral contained this classic line: “What you are is God’s gift to you; what you make of it is your gift to God.”

William Barclay phrased it this way: “There are two great days in a person’s life—the day we are born and the day we discover why.”

Times are tough, but opportunity still abounds. The power is within you. Let it shine!

Jeff Corbett is an experienced public speaker, meeting facilitator and sales and marketing professional. He lives in Statesville. He can be reached at jeff@speak-well.com.