Posts tagged ‘life’s difficulties’

December 20th, 2009

A New Year Towards New Hope

Answer searching. I’ve been doing a lot of that lately. When to fight for what you believe and when to throw in the towel. It’s not such an easy decision.

I’ve been blessed in a multitude of ways. But there are still occasions when I run into people who make finding the blessings and inspirations in life a bit harder.

What do you do for example, when you encounter publishers who take your story and run unpaid? Or former clients who yell and scream and call you names?

Guess you let the mad cover you and push you to jump even farther. I sometimes think it was serendipitous that I went to the Disney museum when I did. Seeing how cool and calm Walt Disney was when the people he trusted tried to steal his money, made that path seem a lot more attractive.

Yet, it’s still a difficult decision to make.

How do you make amends with yourself, accept your mistakes, learn from them, and keep going without letting your emotions get in the way?

As 2009 quietly quells in the night, I look up toward 2010. May this year I learn to be more like Disney. Let the weaknesses of others, the disappointment and anger dissipate into the wintery rain. And my hope to find retribution through focusing on the future, hope and possibility of what can be versus what was, yesterday.

September 29th, 2009

Dealing with "What If…"

Treat yourselfAs I’m writing this post, there’s a lot of “what ifs” going on in my mind.  What if, for example my husband loses his job.  Or what if, I won’t make it as a writer.  I’m sure I’m not the only one with what ifs running around my head these days.  The economy.  The uncertainty.  The evening news.  There are more than enough reasons to pull your hair out these days and all our legit.

But even in times of despair, there are still things we can do to prevent an outright catastrophic breakdown.  Read them along with me as I try to follow my own advice:

Find the silver lining.  This might be a good time to break out that new journal you got.  Start listing down at least 3 things every night that you are grateful for.  Oprah says that even on the worst days, the fact that you are breathing is a blessing.

Take a deep breath.  Try meditating even for 5 minutes or just take a deep breath.  Feeling your breath in your body may help to refocus your attention.

Express yourself.  Go out with your friends, talk to your significant other or write about your worries in a journal.  Expressing yourself may help alleviate or help identify some of your fears.

Treat yourself.  Do something nice for yourself.  Drink a cup of hot cocoa or tea or take a warm bubble bath.  Be a kid again and indulge in a bit of fun just for the day.

Get outside.  Being in nature is so healing.  Take a walk outdoors, go hiking or bicycling and enjoy the peace that comes with feeling the wind on your face.

Spend time with kids or a pet.  Kids and animals help bring you to the present moment.  And a lot of times stress comes from worrying about what will happen in the future and regretting things that happened in the past.  When life gets you down, spend some time with them and experience the blessing of present moment living.

If all else fails, remember a time when things were really hard in your life.  Think about how you handled the situation and what came out of it.  There is usually a gift in every seemingly difficult experience.  We just need both the patience and the faith to help us get to the other side.

August 25th, 2009

Life's Haunting Questions

What makes a life?  Is it the things we do?  The places we visit?  The people we know?  Or is it comprised of what we neglect?  The choices we didn’t make, the path we didn’t take?  The older I get, the more I am a witness to life’s greatest pleasures and pain.  It’s who we are and who we become despite the challenges we face and in spite what life throws at us.  The thing is-how do we accept what isn’t working in our lives and tranforms them into butterflies?

Life comes and goes and we can choose to embrace all of it-the happiest moments and the most difficult or we can stand in front of it and pretend none of it exists.  When it comes to life’s thorns, do we let ourselves experience the pain or cover our wounds with a band-aid?