look – we are all human. so we feel and think the same in many ways – whether in bangkok or toledo. and one of things that we all dislike to a certain extent is monday or the first day of the work week in your country. and if it is not monday for you – it is at least one day of the week. it is that day of the week where you feel blah and you just want to get through it – no matter how busy or bored you are during that day. you doubt yourself on that day more than any other day – and when you wake up the next day – you feel completely different – like you are ready for anything – you are confident and ready to go. but on that “bad” day – you might have negative thoughts or thoughts of hopelessness – and you want to avoid everyone until you are in a better mood the next day. how do you get through it. first -acknowledge that this is not your best day. 2nd – don’t make any big decisions on this day. 3rd – avoid conflict. 4th – think of what you will accomplish the next day. 5th – think about the end of the day and the things you will do as you wind down this day – getting closer to the next day so starting to feel better. ultimately you will have to go through these days over and over in life so you need a plan to get through them without any major problems. and you can’t avoid this day by not going to work, etc. – because the next day will then be the monday. you must start the monday like a normal monday – but you can then change it later in the day to make it better. so start the day as usual to check the box and feel the monday emotions and then start to shift out of the blues as the day progresses – following the 5 steps. some things are inevitable in life and we have to endure – so recognize it, endure it and move on.
Tag: life
new achievements
a funny thing happened on the way to my death – i discovered new things to do and i discovered new achievements and i discovered new feelings of satisfaction. wow, life is certainly full of surprises – and we all start to know that fact as we grow older. but, we also start to think that we should never be surprised by anything – as we see more and more things happen that we were not expecting. from the world view, this is true – we see triumph and tragedy every day in different ways – so we become used to the unexpected. but, on a personal level, in our own lives, we can still be amazed, wowed and excited. we all get into our daily routines, our daily interactions, our daily exercises, the sports we are used to playing, doing, etc. – and we don’t think about trying something new – we are content in our routines. but on a rare occasion we try a new sport or a sport we used to play as a kid. one thing leads to another and we find ourselves on a team for this sport – mostly for the camaraderie, the friendship aspect. and this provides some new experiences, some new connections. but then we find ourselves in a competitive game and we find ourselves digging deep to compete and possibly win this game – with our teammates – and when we do win a tight game – with a renewed effort, a renewed vigor – we feel a new type of satisfaction that we have not felt in awhile – it is a rush – it is a thrill – it is something we were not expecting and it makes life richer and fuller – and it reminds us why we are on this earth – to live! so if you feel something or someone pulling you in a new direction to get involved in something new, something renewed, something positive – say yes once in awhile – you might be surprised that there is something beyond the routine – that there are moments of exhilaration that you don’t want to miss out on.
lesson learned
every experience brings a lesson. that lesson can slowly creep into your mind or it might come in a flash. the key is to know the lesson learned. when you wake up one day and say i know the lesson i am suppose to learn from this experience – then all is good. you then know why you were put in this job or put in this situation – to learn this lesson. and once you have learned that lesson, your time has been well spent – even if the experience did not end in success. this experience was never going to end in the traditional definition of success. but in reality, you did succeed because a lesson was placed there for you to discover and learn from – and if you did discover that lesson and you did learn from that lesson – then you have accomplished your mission for the experience, event, job, etc. you can then take what you learned from that lesson and apply it to real life – to ultimately make you a better person – to make you understand yourself even more – to understand how to survive and thrive in this world – to help you interact with others in a better way. if you fail at something, then you were meant to fail – and the main goal was not failure or success – but did you learn the key lesson. don’t leave the failure behind until you have learned the key lesson and are ready to apply what you learned. only then will you realize that every experience has a meaning – and that understanding that meaning is the key to a happy and fulfilled life.
why must we go on
we must go on because it is in our nature. it is in our nature to never give up, to fight to the finish, to give it all we got, to push through the hard times, to put up with things we don’t want to put up with, to work with people we really don’t want to work with, to see it through the end. we have to bite our tongues, we have to learn to cope, we have to block it out, we have to smile when we don’t want to, we have to adapt to our surroundings, we have to keep doing what we are supposed to do, we have to just do it. when you want to quit, when you want to walk out, when you want to give up, when you have had enough – you have to stop yourself and just go on and on and on. just keep doing what you are doing and good things will come or you will know when it is time to move on – when you have gone on enough. but for now, keep pushing on, keep going on, keep doing it. you never know, all your hard work could pay off or it might not. there is only one way to find out and that is to keep going on.
put it all on the table
don’t mess around when it comes to your life. put it all on the table. don’t fool yourself into thinking all is going well when it is not. put it all on the table. your job is not going well – you know it and your boss knows it. don’t hide from this fact. go to your boss and tell him how you feel. tell him you know that things are not going according to plan. tell him that we don’t want to waste each other’s time – that life is too short for that and that time & money should not be wasted. put a deadline down to either turn things around or move on. this is putting it all on the table. this is listening to your gut telling you enough is enough – make it happen or move on. move on to something that will work. life is not cookie cutter and you must progress and survive any way you know how. taking the risky job was a statement to yourself that you will take risks and you will go for those opportunities – but it is also a risk to put it on the table and to leave the risky job for the unknown. these are the times where you will be challenged the most. you have done this and you have done that – but you must keep going, you must keep taking the risks to get ahead – to have peace of mind in life – to wake up and breath a sigh of relief – that is what you are striving towards – so put it all on the table and keep doing so until that day of relief comes. and when it does – start all over again.
hopes & dreams
where do they live? they live in the places you would never visit in your daily path. they live in small depressed office buildings, in lonely garages on dead end streets, in parts of the city where trash is not picked up, where trees are not trimmed. no one goes here except the people who have no other choice or who have made the choice to try something new – to take a chance – to take a risk for success. when you start at the bottom, it isn’t pretty and it doesn’t smell good – and the people do not smile. these people are all just wandering through life, hoping that they will reach the next level. these people linger in the parking lot smoking away – staring off into the distance. these people sit in their offices and make long deep sighs all day – they are not sad, they are not happy, they are just there – hanging on by a thread to keep the lights on at home. when you walk around the parking lot, you don’t look each other in the eye – you are all in the same miserable boat. your office is a small collection of rooms – empty most of the time or just a few people staring at their computer screens. there is a fridge but not much in it – there is no sink or kitchen – you have to pour out your water outside or in the bathroom. there is a microwave in another empty room in the building – it is small and dirty. the day is the same every day with the occasional surprise or victory – but they are small victories and the big victory takes a long time to achieve or never comes at all. you wonder how did you get here and why are you here. you have bet your life on this job in this very small company with not much money. you only have your hopes and your dreams and your will to keep going. you will not quit until the day they fire you. you are sure that day will come soon, but are still holding out hope that what you are doing might actually succeed. until then, you will keep coming to this place, you will keep trying, you will keep dreaming, you will keep hoping.
the past
why do we always think about the past. why do we always think about the people we used to know. why do we question our actions of the past. why can’t we still be friends with people in our past. these are questions that go through everyone’s mind at one time or another. we think about what we did in the past. we think about the people we knew very well in the past. but those people are not there anymore. we think about the people we hurt in the past. we think about the people we helped in the past. we wonder why we can’t be there with them anymore. but we know why. it is because that is the way life goes. it doesn’t stop. when you are in that moment with that person in the past – which was the present – you don’t think about where you will be in the future or who you will be with in the future or what you will be doing in the future. you only think about the present in a very quick mindset – everything just goes and you just live – and you move on from people, places and things. but when you get older, you think about the past more and you have settled into a life that does not change much anymore – so you can see the future with clearer eyes – and you know what might happen in the future – as you get closer to the end of life – you know more and you know what to expect. but that past is always there, waiting for you to look at it and question it and wonder why or what could have been – but you are glad that you moved on because your present gut told you to – and your gut today still guides you so you can’t wish for the past because you told yourself to move forward – but you can still think about the past.
do you feel it
walk outside and look into the sky – look at where you are at that place at that time – do you feel it? do you feel like you belong right there in that spot, in that city, in that town, in that state, in that country, in that place? do you feel like this is where you should be and where you feel the most comfortable – not the job, but the place where you live. does it feel like the place where you will take permanent root – where you grow old, where you are happy inside. you have been to many places, you have met many people, you have experienced joy and pain – love and hardship – stress and relief – you have lived here and there – but now you look into that sky and you say “yes” this is where i belong. you feel the heat or cold on your body and it reminds you of where you came from and what you are deep in your soul. you know that this is where you belong, that wandering around looking for something is not the answer because you have found where you belong. time is short and we can’t take it with us – so just soak it in and feel where you belong – your senses and your memories will work together to guide you to choose the right piece of the puzzle for this part of life.
daily focus
what you see every day in front of you is life. the big picture is good for dreams and keeping on track – but what you look at every day in the morning, at home, in the car, at work, in the evening – these are the things that make up your life. and if you just focus on what is in front of you – which are the smallest details of life in this world – then you can ultimately make change and feel fulfilled. the big picture and the big change and the big accomplishments in your life all tie into the things you consistently focus on in everyday life. so if you keep that daily focus on even the smallest things – you will feel fulfilled overall. too many people keep focusing on the big picture and spend most of their time dreaming of what can be and what will be. this can satisfy you for a few brief moments, but this focus cannot get you to the fulfillment of your dreams. you must embrace the daily focus and know that when you do embrace the daily focus, the big picture will evolve behind the scenes – like a puzzle – when you look at a puzzle up close, you cannot see what the end result will be – but you do know that each piece you put into the puzzle will get you one step closer to completing that puzzle. so embrace each piece of the puzzle and enjoy each piece of the puzzle – for that is life itself that you are embracing.
conscious change
overall you are good. you do most things in moderation and this will prolong your life. but there are some things that you have done all your life and you have occasionally done these things in excess. in the past you experienced more events in excess -and as time has gone on, you have done these things less – but still in excess sometimes. they have been habits that have not killed you…yet. and who is to say that they will kill you earlier than if you never did them. but there are people around that you love that could be affected by these moments of excess – and this is why you must make a conscious change to stop doing these things in excess. yes, you only do them 2-3 times per year – but that is 2-3 times too many now. you are getting older and you must stop these bouts of excess. it is not good for you or the people around you. it will end badly if you do not stop. you need to think and say to yourself, I will make that conscious change – even if it means you will not experience these things anymore. force yourself to make the conscious change.