We all face personal challenges. During my MDRT presidential year in 2015, my husband was diagnosed with a very serious illness. While it wasn’t easy, he insisted I move forward in my presidential role.
I needed to call on a skill that I developed over the years of trying to not look at the whole picture but break things down into small boxes. There’s so much information being hurled at us that we’re overloaded. To counteract that, we can focus further down, compartmentalize things and then deal with the immediate job. It’s how I try to keep stress levels down, by just dealing with what needs to be done now.
I have this mantra that while I can’t solve this whole situation, this is one thing I can do today. Life happens to us all, and we can’t change that. You don’t sit there and say, Why me? It’s really, Why not me? By just dealing with one thing at a time, I have become quite good at managing stress and working my way through.
Somebody once said that courage doesn’t always roar. Courage is that quiet voice that just says to give it a try. So even when you’re scared and your confidence wavers as you face challenges, go ahead, do what you can today and give it a try.
Caroline Banks is a 37-year MDRT member. She’s also a Top of the Table member and served as MDRT President in 2015.
