We’re all faced with challenges, roadblocks on a daily basis, this in our immediate lives and more on a macro scale. We constantly face adversity in our lives such as illnesses, injury, grief, divorce, human loss, or venturing haphazardly into an unknown future.
Under usual circumstances when challenged, what we’ll do is turn away from it if possible, this our innate nature rather than facing it head on. We’re masters of avoidance and denial, turning the other cheek, staying away from any immediate or pending danger.
But we should be wanting more out of life, to be current, enjoy ourselves more while being effective, deciding to orient ourselves towards facing these unknowns, to face reality and take risks.
Once we choose the reality principle, what we develop is a deeper capacity to deal with all what life throws our way much better. What was once difficult then becomes easy, what scared us in the past becomes familiar.
Life becomes manageable as there’s something to be gained. Since we’ve proven that we can grown stronger, we then generate the confidence that we can do bigger and better things.
Embracing Reality Rather Than Fantasy
Some realize that the secret to life is wanting more of what you already have, and not wanting what you don’t have. Being current means being present to the life that you’re comfortable with.
There’s a certain freedom in taking life as it’s handed to us, the good and the bad, the wonderful along with the tragic, the love and the hate, and all its consequences.
Once we begin to embrace it all, take it at face value, then we have the opportunity to enjoy life more, to value all of our experiences, to treasure everything that’s presented to us. Once we decide to surrender to the reality, what we give ourselves is the opportunity to do what we can.
Slow Down And Enjoy Your Time
What we were taught in school was the tale of the tortoise and the hare. What the moral was is slow and steady, to be sure, certain, to take things calculated like the tortoise, is what usually wins the race.
When we’re in a hurry, what we are doing is thwarting our success. We’ll make more mistakes, get ahead of ourselves, begin to cut corners, only to pay for them later.
What we learn is the easy way out but it’s not always the best way. The slower and more complete that you are, the sooner that you’ll get there, so the theory goes. It’s proven that slow disciplined incremental growth is what leads to lasting change.
Always Practice Gratitude
It’s easy to count our difficulties rather than our blessings. What this attitude undermines however is our ability to draw from all the good that we’ve generated, while fundamentally seeing our lives as a gift.
A change in this perspective can potentially make all the difference. Recognizing all that’s good and then receiving it with gratitude is a recipe for better emotional health.
What this attitude increases is the opportunity to make good use of all we’ve been given, while using it to cope with all the difficulties that we’ll inevitably face or have inherited.
Knowing All Your Feelings
We often get scared, feel confused, our thoughts become heavy, so we try to keep them at bay. But realize that we need the experiences of these feelings to find satisfaction and meaning in life.
Ignoring feelings can not only backfire, but it also drains us from all of the psychological energy which makes life more enjoyable. Feelings are what fuels our personalities.
Feelings are our source of motivation and energy which provides vitality, the juice of life. Our lives wouldn’t have any color or dimension, there wouldn’t be any creativity or fun. Without feelings, nothing really matters.
Accept Both Success And Failure Equally
We should always be learning, but some just refuse to do so. No one gets it right the first time, so a more compassionate attitude towards life’s imperfections helps us to grow.
The dynamic processes of achievement in life are planning, effort, taking action, failing, and then succeeding. If we fail, we should be trying again, over and over again, this until we get it right, which instills confidence.
We learn the most through our experiences, our failures, that we can succeed once recovering from failing. We learn to become humble, develop a point of view of ourselves as being limited, while at times needing the help from others.
Regardless of how mature or how successful one becomes, the child within will always need help, need mentors and close friends who’ll stand by us, this to see us through the difficult times.
Keeping Our Relationships
It becomes easy to neglect what matters the most to you. We often hurt the ones that we love the most. These relationships also don’t happen by magic, but are instead sustained through giving attention and hard work.
Mature love is a dynamic growing and living process. It’s something that you choose on a daily basis, something that’s earned. What it requires is the commitment to keeping it working.
It involves overcoming the growing distance while honoring the differences. Accepting the reality that we may get hurt and that we’ll hurt others.
It’s the nature of the human condition to be vulnerable. The pain and the strain can’t be avoided. We can only weather them or mend them. Love is essentially a work in progress, needing constant repair.
We tend to the hurts while attempting to heal them. We should be taking responsibility for all of our mistakes, learn to say that we’re sorry and mean it. We attempt to make amends, to forgive and accept forgiveness. We fall down and then get back up again.