Mitch’s recent blog about the best advice he had ever received-which came from his father-inspired me to think about the best advice I have ever received. For me, it came from my former father-in-law.

Going through a divorce, with two very young children, was an extremely difficult time in my life. My former father-in-law, however, always tried to support me. During a particularly bad day he uttered this advice to me, “Always remember, you cannot control how others act, you can only control how you respond to them.”

Those words, spoken to me in 1995, have always stayed with me. Whenever I am in a difficult situation, I try to remember those words and control only that which I can control, my own actions.

Life lessons.