Building Walls

When we are angry at life and all its problems, we sometimes feel
hopeless and alone; we doubt our ability to ever overcome our feeling of
helplessness. What do we do? We start building a fortress around
ourselves so no one can see that we are not coping very well. People who
build these walls with their verbal or body language, do so out of fear
that they have lost control of their life, and that if they accept help they
may never again be captain of their own ship. As our problems mount,
so do our fears and pride. Those who love us bear the brunt of our
alienation as we leave them and their ‘blankets of love’ on the other side
of the wall. In our flawed wisdom, we stay behind the wall depressed and
alone.

Protection or Restraint

The ancient Chinese built the Great Wall to protect their citizens from
invading armies. Pretty soon they discovered that the benefit of keeping
invaders out had a ‘flip side’ – the wall could keep its citizens in. If the
freedom of our thoughts is any indication of our wish to be free, then
gates or walls cannot really confine us. Whether we are imprisoned
physically or mentally, our thoughts are free to roam and bring us fresh
new ideas. Being inside the gates could be a source of security for those
who prefer to have boundaries set for them. Many persons who are of a
conservative religious persuasion, for instance, find such constraints
comfortable. Our thoughts and culture are what help us to decide if we
are being protected or restrained. Much depends on our frame of
reference.

Faith

There really is no greater security for people of faith than having a
Supreme Being that is always on duty. Also comforting for them is the
knowledge that, regardless of what happens, their faith acts as a cushion
when their landing is a hard one. This faith allows us to believe we can
do better than we envisioned even in our wildest dreams. Most of us
would never have learned to ride a bike if we didn’t have a hand to hold
us until we felt secure enough to ride alone. So it is that, with confidence
in our own ability and God’s help, we are able to aim higher and further
than we ever thought possible.

Appreciation

When we find ourselves in a situation that seems to have us boxed in
on all sides, it’s difficult to block pessimistic thoughts. These thoughts
immobilize us into believing there’s no way out of the predicament. To
have a life fuelled by positive vibrations, we need to be ever conscious of
how blessed we are to have a life at all, even if we are not particularly
happy with it. As the old saying goes, where there’s life there’s hope. It’s
true that the better life is for us, the more likely we are to be happy. It’s
also true that the happier we are, the better life is for us. We often take
our good fortune for granted, and find it easier to complain when things
are not going well. Sadly, it’s only when we’re about to lose the good
things we have, that we stop taking them for granted.

Life

There is no one whose life has chugged along in one predictable step
after another. So often we get out of bed with a clear intent for how our
day is going to unfold. Then, a word, a deed or the state of the weather
is all it takes to change us, not for just the course of that day but for all
our days to come. We should not be too rigid in how we plan our life,
because so many factors beyond our control influence what happens to
us daily. Life really moves by its own agenda and we get sucked in
whether we are ready for changes or not. It’s not the changes themselves
that make the difference, it’s how we view them or react to them. When
people we love depart from our lives suddenly, we often feel lost and
alone. Feelings of grief are natural, but in time we have to move on
because life around us has not stopped for a moment, even if it seems
that our own life is on hold.