![Viking quotes.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/galenkp/AL5v8DCBq47UrtytM53zeuSKdNfbXDPysEDFo351XjfhaWjNLbC6tUKnRg3mS9o.png) ### There are few more certain tokens of ill than not to know how to accept the good. *** Each Thursday I select a Viking quote, sometimes randomly but ofttimes based upon relevance or meaning to my life at that point in time. Despite these phrases being over a thousand years old I believe most can still offer value in modern society and I find it interesting to ponder, weigh and measure them. _{***original im src***} *** # This week's Viking quote >*There are few more certain tokens of ill than not to know how to accept the good.* - Grettis saga Ásmundarsonara *Find value from adversity, be it greater understanding, knowledge, wisdom or a simple lesson - There is value to be gained even when bad things happen.* OK, maybe not the best-worded interpretation but that's essentially what I take this week's quote to mean. I chose quote because I read a post today, a very cut-down and light version of true events in a country far from my own. It made me very sad and quite angry however I saw light there also as the individual survived, adapted, took ownership, responsibility for themselves and others, evaluated and took action...And they learned valuable lessons in doing so. Over my life I've had many moments in which adversity wreaked havoc upon me physically or emotionally and the fact I have a memory means shadows from the past cast their pall across my life from time to time - Life often delivers chaos and it's how we deal with it that really matters. Someone recently wrote in ***this post***, *"embrace chaos, but don't let it drown you."* Wise words. Take something from it, the chaos, that you are better equipped, informed or prepared next time. *Life often delivers chaos and it's how we deal with it that really matters.* I believe this completely however there's more to be gained than simply *dealing with or getting through* the chaos, the adversity. We can learn many things about other people, life in general or very specific situations. We can learn a lot about ourselves and what we're capable of in times of stress, when under duress, in danger or when opportunities arise or disappear...Yes, it's important to work through it but just as important to evaluate and reflect on the situation and *how we dealt with it* and earn from that. Could we have performed better? Did we do or act quickly enough. Were we decisive or rash? Did we consider all the options available or just see a path and take it? *Are we now working towards risk-mitigation? It's that evaluation that will bring greater understanding and, I believe, a better result next time when adversity once again pays a visit. I take this quote to hint at an ownership-evaluation-plan-act concept, *that's the good it speaks of* - accepting the good that can come from the bad. Life is rarely black and white and I'm yet to meet someone who has not had adversity pay a visit in some shape or form. Some capitulated or did so then found their courage, others refused to fall in the first place, sought solutions and resolutions, *a way forward*. Some learned valuable lessons and many did not. Ownership is something I value in myself and it's a personality trait I find attractive in others; I respect it and respond to it. That post I read today, it was about a person applying the ownership-concept to themselves, taking responsibility to do what was required for themselves and giving for others without the expectation of anything in return from others. A thing needed doing and the person did it. I read the light version I'm certain, was insulated from the true realities of it, just as I would do if I'd written the post, but the core values shone through. Clearly. The net result for that person is a new paradigm: Lessons learned and the strength and courage to do what is required to mitigate the opportunity for events of the same nature to have such an effect again plus a focus on the issues that created them in the first place. The person urges us to take, *"one small action at a time and to reflect on what we could do day-to-day"* to mitigate the effects of adversity. I'd say that's someone who has taken the good from a very bad situation like the Viking quote suggests. *** That's it for this week, a thousand year-old Viking quote that extolls the benefits of taking good from bad, gaining valuable understanding and wisdom from moments that might not necessarily seem positive. Please feel free to disagree with my interpretation and add your own, tell me a story around this quote or topic or simply react to it and let me know what you think, how you see it, how it relates to you or someone you know. Skol.

*** Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - *Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind*

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