Sadness

Unhappiness is like a virus, and can spread quickly like a wildfire if we don’t
recognise it and put our fire breakers in its path. There may be no conscious
reason for the feelings of unhappiness, but our emotions are governed by the
thoughts that run around in our head. This expression of sadness may have
been fuelled by an incident that happened as recently as yesterday, or as long
as many years ago. Emotions govern not just our mental state, but our physical
state as well. If these unhappy feelings are left unresolved, they return later,
more potent and toxic and ready to seep into other areas of our life.

Feeling sad from time to time is a normal part of life. However, when sadness
begins to define who you are and how you relate with people, you have a
problem. This is now a job for a professional therapist to assist you with the
solution. Your friends may try to cheer you up, but without your co-operation
their efforts are useless. You are the gate-keeper of your own emotions. Just
remember that the unhappiness you feel is just one part of your life. Everyone
has at least one thing they can feel happy about. How you deal with life’s
problems is a much more accurate assessment of the person you are. Allow
yourself the luxury of grieving if you need to, but know that a brighter day
will come if you open yourself to the possibility. Life will go on, regardless of
your emotional state; so, try to breathe in some happiness.

Love Again

Love Again

We should all learn to love each other but we know there are several forms of love. Many take
love for granted and assume it is a natural thing to experience. Romantic love
seems easy enough to understand. Love within families is also understandable,
even though some of us may not like each other. Loving our ‘fellow-man’
presents an even greater challenge, as this type of love often has to be
learned. Research has shown that children who are never exposed to love
have difficulty sustaining a loving relationship later in life. Why then do we
expect that everyone knows how to love? Mountains could be moved and
major, major problems resolved if we could all just learn to love one another.

If loving others is a challenge for you, it is worth your while to keep trying.
You may think it’s not possible to feel love for someone if you don’t like them,
but don’t be confused by that idea. Liking and loving are two separate
emotions. In its simplest form, love means you wish harm to no one. By
contrast, liking someone means you admire or have some regard for that
person. These concepts may be new to you, but if you think about it, they are
really not difficult to embrace. You may even be surprised to discover that it’s
easier to love than to like.

Perseverance

When life shuts its doors on our precious plans, we believe that this barrier is
personal. Don’t believe that for one moment, as “the rain falls on the just and
on the unjust.” We all encounter obstacles as we journey through life. So many
obstructions are placed in our path that we often think success is not
achievable, in spite of our best efforts. Innovative thinking springs from our
need to find another way around a problem. If we focus intently on the fact
that the door is locked, we are likely to overlook the key that could open it to
endless possibilities.

Perseverance is your only option if you are going to realise the goals you have
set for yourself. At times you are not sure where the energy will come from
to persevere. If you fall off the horse, you must remount so that the horse and
others know you will not be deterred by a mere fall. Also, sometimes it is by
not getting what you hoped for that you acquire the key for achieving
something even greater.

Choices

Living or having a life is a choice that is made by each and every one of us.
So many of us fill our daily hours with only routine – sleep, eat, work, sleep.
As the monotony gets to us we become bored and dissatisfied. We manage
to convince ourselves that we have no room for choices. Life is what you make
it and playing by the rules does not insulate you from pain and suffering. We
all encounter difficulties in life, even when we’re trying to live the best way
we can. So, formulate in your mind the kind of life you want to live, and lay
the foundation for its achievement.

You may be able to live life to the fullest while you are healthy and gainfully
employed. But, if your health or fortune diminishes you can’t expect your
lifestyle to remain the same. You should try to maximise your resources at
whatever stage you are in life. There may be other lives after this one, but
since this is the only one we know of for sure, live it to the fullest.