Managing Time

Are you a good "time manager"? What I mean is, can you make a truly profitable use of your time? Mind you, by profitable I'm not referring to money. I'm rather thinking about what is beneficial to your "self". Time is an asset we have all been granted, but so many make a bad use of it. Just reflect for an instant: when you spend several minutes (or hours or even longer) being angry, what is your emotional/spiritual gain? Aren't you depriving yourself of the serenity (maybe even the happiness) you could be enjoying instead? And simply because your so-called pride or self-righteousness make you believe that being angry is the correct way to elaborate your feelings. But your inner voice keeps whispering that time is too precious to be wasted in negativity. Make the right choice!

Staying or Moving

Do you like where you presently are? If you do, good for you. Stay there, continue doing what you have been doing and... enjoy your life! But, if you are not happy with your present situation, you have two choices: keep on staying there and complain, or decide to make a change. If you decide to stay where you are, then you can't blame anybody for your unhappiness. It is "your" choice. On the other hand, if you feel that you really want to be somewhere else, you have to take the drastic decision to "move". At first, it's not going to be easy, it's probably going to feel uncomfortable, but eventually you will know that it was the right decision.

A Dream

Imagine that you are dreaming of a holiday on an exotic island of the South Pacific (or any other place that you like). You may linger on the idea for some time. Then, if you are really serious about it, you start making definite plans. You check the possible routes, flights, fares, hotel reservation availability and so on. Finally, you make your bookings and relax, waiting for the date of departure. What is the wisdom behind all this? Simple. If you want to achieve a goal, you have to do something about it. You don't simply talk about it and wish for it to happen. Bounty baskets don't come down from the sky for you to grasp. You take action, you endeavor to make your dream come true. Decision, determination and action is what you need. And now ... have a nice journey!

Lemony Taste

Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said: "If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place". What does "correct your mind" mean? Is there something wrong with your mind? Not exactly. Your mind is fine, what is wrong might sometimes be the way you use it. We often said that things (i.e. Life) are the way they are and most times you are unable to actually change them. In such case, in order to live well, you need to change your way of interpreting such things. If, as they say, whenever you have lemons you can only make lemonade, whenever you are facing a situation that you are judging negatively, you can try to modify your judgment about it. Also a sour, lemony taste can be acceptable.

Solve The Problem

Imagine a blacksmith manufacturing a lock and then forgetting to make the key necessary to open it. That would be a silly situation, a useless piece of work. Such “silly” situation can be compared to the one you find yourself in when you say, “This problem has no solution”. Every problem has a solution. What you must accept is the idea that at times such solution is not the one you want, the one you were hoping for. An example: Let’s say that the problem is about you being compelled to stay in a work environment that you don’t like. What could the solutions be? The ones you would like: quit or have all your co-workers fired. Neither is possible. So? The solution that you don’t like (but which is the wisest one, due to the circumstances): change “your” judgment about the work environment that you loathe. If you really want to solve “your” problem, you can do it.

To Face or Not to Face?

Life is definitely “not” a piece of cake. It certainly has many good moments but it also has a lot of difficult ones. And when you start to pay more attention to the difficult ones, you feel overwhelmed by the challenges, you might even think that you are not up to facing them and that, maybe, it would be better to give up trying. But you would be wrong. As hard work is required while climbing to reach the top of the mountain, so some courage is necessary to attain fulfillment. If you stay at the bottom of the height, you will never enjoy the beautiful view available from the top. If you refuse to face your problems, you will never feel the satisfaction of having solved them, thus giving your life a sweeter flavor.

Theirs or Yours?

Look at how you have always been. What do you see? What kind of individual are you? Examine your character and your behavior. Then, let’s say that you decide to change something in yourself in order to re-create your life for the better. You now want to eliminate what is no more useful to your wellbeing. So, you actually make the change and feel much better about yourself. Bravo! But don’t expect others to be happy about it. They will probably resent you for not being your “usual” self, the one who was caring about “their” wellbeing more than your own. Are you ready to take the challenge? What is more important “to you”, their selfishness or your fulfillment?