Is Life a Struggle?

The feelings you experience depend on the way you put yourself in front of what happens in your life. It is how you face people and situations that creates what manifests in the deep of your heart, giving rise to feelings. If your attitude is aggressive, your soul will seldom experience peace because that particular facet of your personality creates a special kind of emotional environment that influences your whole way of being. Your spirit is agitated, even the traits of your face may have a tendency to assume a sullen expression. As a consequence, your days become unpleasant because you are living them as if you were on a perpetual battlefield. Have you heard some people repeat, with a sort of gloomy satisfaction, that “life is a struggle”? It can certainly be, if you believe it is, and allow it to be. But it is not Life’s Rule. It is a man-made conditioning directive!

The 'Real' Benefit

You are aware of the wars that are going on in such and such  country, you can tell how many disasters have been taking place in this or that country. You know about all aspects of the turmoil that is afflicting our planet. And, on a lighter note, you are also proud to acknowledge all the juiciest gossip concerning film stars or singers, you know everything about the latest award winners and what they were wearing on the red carpet. You can count on your fingers the music hits of the season and the most viewed movies. Fantastic! You really got it all! And, as knowing all this and being able to have endless conversations with your friends on such subjects, from politics to social affairs, to finance, to gossip, makes you feel proud, just ask yourself this single little question: What good does all this do to me? Stop for a moment and wonder about what is the benefit, I mean the real benefit (not just being able to 'shine' in your social environment) that your spirit gets from all such knowledge. 

Fan of the News

The modern world, the newer generation… you, have been craftily brought to believe that everybody needs to be informed, all the time. So there is presently a non-stop  flow of news from all sides, in all possible forms. Is it good or bad? Some say that people need to be informed, to be up-to-date in order to feel they are participating in the life of the planet. They believe that, as the Earth has become a global village, there shouldn’t be boundaries, and information is the fastest way to make all feel as one great country. But… is this really true? If you are a fan of the daily news, if you enjoy watching the many channels entirely dedicated to such enchanting topic, if you surf the net jumping from one site to another, hungrily absorbing all that is dished out to you, you end up believing that you are well informed. And, definitely, you are. But… what do you actually "know"?

Negative News

Many people like to know all the 'bad' stuff that happens and ignore other news that could give them positive feelings instead. When you read or listen at length about crimes and violence, do you feel better? Do you believe that your spirit has benefited from knowing about the killing, the rape, the shooting, the crimes that unfortunately happen all over the world, every day? Have you aver thought of, rather, focusing your interest on something more uplifting? The world is not only made of dreadful happenings, but “the news” tends to ignore the good, positive things because it focuses on and exploits only one layer of people's natural interests. So, what does this say about the human nature, and its willingness to be manipulated?

Negative News

"The News"

To know means to be aware, to realize, to have knowledge, to have information about something that 'is', or that is happening or that happened. Mankind, in general, feels the need to be informed either about what is going on or about why things are in a certain way. In the olden days there were thinkers (philosophers, scientists etc.) who endeavored to understand both ethical and physical laws, while others  'acted', took action in order to achieve a material, visible result. Those who did neither felt the desire to simply 'know', to be informed about what was being thought and experimented. Thus “the news” (= information) was born. Different kinds of postal service were invented: messengers on foot, on horses, drums, smoke signals, pigeons, letters and so on.  But such transmissions were neither quick nor easy, so only the important information was given. Besides, people were so busy with their own lives that they did not really care about what was not exceptionally interesting, life-threatening or the like. This went on for a long time till… nowadays!

The Key Word

All in all, it should be possible for you to re-create your life by improving some things that need to be improved, by adjusting stuff that needs to be fixed. You might object that, although you tried, people and situations still keep being difficult to deal with (therefore you jump to the easy conclusion that nothing works!). You may be right but, at the same time, you must also remember that perseverance is indispensable. To become the head of an enterprise or the captain of an aircraft one must study, practice and apply themselves for quite some time. To become the master of your fate you need to be serious about it, continue in the pursuit and, most of all, never give up. Remind yourself of something in your past  that you  wanted to such a degree that you never stopped until you got it. Is a better life less important? The key word? Perseverance.

An Average World?

They told you that you are the 'maker' of your life. But do you really believe this to be true? Oftentimes words are easy to say but not so easy to deeply believe and, most of all, to put into practice. If it really were an effortless task, the world would be almost perfect. Most people, in fact, have sound principles, know the rules of good behavior, are decent people who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Yet… this world is far from excellent. It may possibly good enough but, most likely, it is average or just acceptable. Yes, you know that most human beings are not bad but… how good are they really? They are ok, which means they live their lives shut inside their selfish little boxes, without really caring about 'the others'. This can be considered a tolerable existence, but it isn't certainly what you would call an inspiring one.

Questions

If you feel you have failed (= not achieved what you expected), ask yourself the following:

What have I done wrong? 

Could I have done things differently? 

Did I have too high a goal? 

Did I actually have a goal? 

Did I expect too much from myself? 

Did I expect too much from others? 

Am I totally responsible for the failure I perceive? 

Could some things have been avoided, or they just had to happen?

Your 'Role'

People - the rich and the poor, the handsome and the ugly, the healthy and the sick...- seem to have each been assigned a role in life. Every character has their own 'specifications' (fate) and must deal with them. But they still have the choice to play  them in different ways (destiny).

The destination is set, but the paths that can be followed are many.

What role have you been assigned?

How are you playing your part?