A Letter. Goal Achieved??

"This is in reference to the article (…) on Creative Thinking by Elsa Franco. I always find her articles inspiring because they make me reflect. The reading is interesting as well as true. Her words bind the reader all over. Like her, I am also in search of hidden wisdom. …… She writes, “No one is perfect and there is always place for improvement. Everything changes, nothing stays the same.” I so agree with her. Yes, life itself is a beautiful opportunity and a possibility to live as we want to, and to breathe freely………I believe that we must not underestimate others' potential or hard work. We don't know when the tables will be overturned. She also mentions a facet of human nature, i.e. the capability of accepting a defeat…….I would finally like to quote her words, “We should never stop learning, being open to new possibilities, trying our wings to see how high we can soar and then try harder.” We can do that by breaking our barriers, by trying to come out of our shells and think, and live outside the box."

Move or Stay?

A person, talking about his (or her) own environment (house, city, country) or the person he lives with or the job he has, says: “I will never be happy in this situation”.

He (or she) has three possible choices:

1. He decides to move somewhere else. In this case, he will have to make major adjustments. The outcome is not certain.

2. He decides to accept the situation and stay. In this case, he will have to make adjustments, give up some of his hopes and wishes. The outcome is not certain.

3. He decides to stay “unwillingly”. In this case he won’t have to make any adjustments and the outcome is certain. He will remain unhappy for good!

Problems

Have you ever wondered about how serious your “problems” are? You might find yourself in a real predicament: in such case your preoccupation is justified, until you find a solution. But there are times when you, without realizing it, make a mountain out of a molehill, truly. Or someone near you does. When this happens, problems arise which create misunderstanding, suffering and upset, without a real reason. They just materialize out of nothing: starting from a simple word, or a facial expression, or a gesture which, from your perspective, is totally meaningless, the situation escalates to a point where it becomes a harsh confrontation, an argument, even a fight. Why? You don’t even understand how a simple statement or action could have been twisted around in such a way that you find yourself where you had never dreamed of being. No one is at fault here. The problem was created, once again, by the lack of proper communication. You say something, and the other interprets your words differently. Or the other way around. 

Is It All A Game?

It comes natural to some (but not many, I reckon) to wonder if there is a precise plan behind the human existence.  Seeing the huge difference among birth conditions, health and wealth situations, peace versus suffering etc. , one cannot help wishing to understand the big WHY behind all this. Such considerations bring us back to the concept of  “The Matrix”, this vast mental game where human beings think they are awake, while in reality they are maneuvered into believing it, while they are not. If this is true, what could be the goal of such deception? And, most of all, why are we endowed with a brain that keeps asking these questions - if it is not possible to receive or find an answer?

Frustration

One of the most frustrating things you may experience is being unable to communicate your feelings. It seems that you and your interlocutor are on different planes, where there is no way to understand each other. It is like when you are in a foreign country, but you don't know the language and the natives don't know yours. You talk and talk, to no avail. When this happens, you feel frustrated because, no matter how hard you try to express your thoughts, to explain the reasons for your behavior or the meaning of what you are saying, you just cannot get through to him/her. You find a wall in front of you: your words hit it and just bounce back, without leaving a trace. Actually, no. It yields a result, but it's not a positive one. It seems that, the more you try to get through, the harder the walls becomes. What to do? No ready-made solution, here. It needs to be discovered, if there is a chance of finding it.

Progress

Until not too many decades ago families used to have dinner together, exchange news, talk to each other, tell what had happened during the day. Throughout the evening, they were communicating “the whole time”. A few decades later, with the advent of television, families were still having dinner together. They exchanged news and talked, before moving into the living room to watch TV together. The length of direct communication had significantly decreased, but they were still spending time with each other. Nowadays most families don’t have dinner together, each member watches TV in their own rooms or uses other "private" technological means of communication.  People in the same family hardly see each other, spend time or talk to each other. This is one of the results of the so called “progress”.

Fear Can Be Overcome

When you get ready to start something new, when you want to try what you have never tried before, fear joins enthusiasm. If you decide to make a major change in your life, to put behind something in your past that did not make you happy, the moment you start packing up for your "journey", you begin having doubts.What is awaiting me? Will I make it? Will I...? What if…? There are so many ifs, so many doubts, so many fears! Fear of having to give up something, even if it is for a greater good; fear of having to struggle  to find the new path to success. 

Just think: "If I am truly convinced of the step I am about  to make, if I carefully weighed the pros and cons of what I intend to do, why worry?"  In spite of the uncertainty that tries to weaken your trust, there is a deep knowing that all is well. An intimate, indescribable feeling whispers: "Go ahead, you can do it!" Listen to it.