Are You Living A Life That Is Worth Living? Part II (a)

By Miriam B. Medina

This is part two of a three-part series examining how many lives have been changed by this recent economic crisis. Part one examined the difficulties associated with living through an economic crisis and the negativity such trauma often causes. In this article, we will explore ways to find inner peace to survive and move on.

To establish peace of mind, we must have a positive mental attitude toward life. One also needs to prepare some problem solving strategy. This plan should be as accurate as possible in order to help you determine your course of action regarding the issue of your worry. However, if, the plan does not successfully perform, then you need to replace it with a new plan. You keep repeating the process until you feel certain that you have found a plan that works. Preparing ahead of time creates confidence in your ability to handle any situation. One thing we can learn from is an ant hill. You probably have seen the ants rushing around in all various directions, moving in and out of the ant hill, bringing in tiny pieces of this and that, seeds and other things, scavenging for food. They all seem to be doing something, don't they? Each ant has his own work to achieve, storing its provisions in summer and gathering its food in the harvest.

Right here is the place where people connect with failure, because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail. There is no waiting for the time to be right, because the time will never be "just right." Make quick and conclusive decisions with all that concerns you. Conserve the energy that you are wasting on worrying. By channeling your energy into practical ways that will help you, it will help you to arrive at workable solutions in dealing with your situation at hand. Like the ants, one needs to plan ahead. Life seems chaotic, but if you have a comprehensive plan, you can always pull things together and survive.

Each new day brings unlimited opportunities. The extent to which we can live a life that is worth living depends on the daily choices we make and in the use of those opportunities. Opportunities can be utilized to our advantage as stepping-stones, helping us to live our lives with meaning, or we can reject them, placing them as stumbling blocks in our path. It's easier to criticize life and blame fate than to live it and create taking advantage of your own opportunities. In this article, I would like to reflect on how these two ways of approach can help or hinder you from living that dream life. In the positive sense, one will find personal growth and fulfillment, while in the negative sense, there is discouragement and failure to obtain. Successful people do not fear failure because they never expect to fail. Although they may be surrounded by skeptics, they do not deviate from the image that they have created for themselves.

Listed below are a few stumbling blocks that can be turned into stepping-stones that will help you to live a life that is worth living.

1. The Stumbling Block of Fear

One of the greatest enemies in life will always be fear. We live in a fear riddled society. The fear of war exists in the mind of the masses, fear of violence running rampart across our nation exists, fear for the financial future of our nation is palpable, and on a personal level, there is fear of failure. Even the people who are considered rich live in fear of losing all that they have. It's remarkably easy to get locked into the present situation and paralyzed by fear, which in turn will freeze whatever potential a person might have. Their whole perspective is limited because they can't think big enough to get past today, or big enough to see where they can go or what they could be a part of. In plain words, they lack the importance of creative visualization. Fear produces resistance. Whenever a problem arises, our first reaction is to introduce all the reasons why it can't be solved. Even when new ideas are presented to us, we automatically exclude them without considering all the options. We become our own worst enemy because of fear. Life is a mirror, and whatever image we show is reflected back to us. So if, you have fear of failure and negative thoughts, you will certainly not produce success.

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To be continued: Are You Living A Life That Is Worth Living? Part II (b)

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