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Tumbling

14 Dec

When problems surround us and we’re overwhelmed, it can feel like we’re tumbling in the surf being rolled over and over again by the pounding waves. The undercurrent captures us and pulls us deeper into the struggle and we tire trying to keep our heads above water. Every moment is an endurance test and there are times when it’s hard to find air to breathe. We fight against the power threatening to crush us and we reach for something, anything to grab onto that will give us sufficient stability to continue on. When our world is in turmoil we may feel we’re careening toward catastrophe and it’s hard to make sense of what’s in front of us. Our vision is clouded by the swirling thoughts of where we are and how we’ll find our way through. Although it’s hard to see an end to the struggle, if we hang on and trust our abilities to navigate whatever has taken hold of us, we will prevail. Even the strongest waves must ebb and in time we will find our way to solid ground again. Life is filled with challenge and trials. They rarely come when we’re ready for them but no matter how deep the water is, we can find our way to the surface and get to the shore.

The old adage of Murphy’s Law that if anything can go wrong it will, sometimes seems to be the rule of the day. There may be times where it seems no matter what we do we can’t win. It’s like we’ve somehow gotten out of sync with the universe. Our friends argue with us, our family is frustrated with us, our jobs are driving us nuts, our cars break down, our faucets leak and we can’t find our keys. One thing at a time is easy to face but sometimes everything seems to go wrong at once. The universe really hasn’t turned against us but we may feel inundated with trouble and exhausted trying to handle it all. When that happens, it may be hard to get through each moment trying to figure out what to do next. But we’ve been through enough trials already to know we’ll survive. We have everything we need to overcome whatever problems arise and if we are patient and take our time we’ll find all the answers we need.

Life is all about change and learning to adapt. It’s a constant process of learning to let go and move forward. When we have a lot of challenges and feel overwhelmed it can be hard to find respite and peace. Every problem that comes brings something we must learn and overcome in order to proceed. Every time we solve a complication we have more information and increased understanding that will help us going forward. Even when we feel we can’t manage, we do. Even we feel we’re overcome, we prevail. There really isn’t anything too difficult for us to manage. Nobody wants to go through heavy problems but we have all the courage we need to do so. Confidence will give us the boost we need to move forward and when we trust in our abilities to cope we will have all the confidence we need.

Today if you’re facing a big problem and feel swallowed up by the tide, grab onto the things you already know and begin forward. You have all the wisdom you need to overcome. You are capable and strong. Press forward and have faith. You will prevail. There isn’t anything you can’t do.

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Going Forward

6 Dec

The road we travel as we live our lives is long and has many turns and twists as we navigate through the years. Sometimes things go well and other times we struggle to get through. It’s not always easy to push forward when there is wind blowing in our face, blinding us and making it hard to keep going, or rain muddying the way forward. If we’re sure we’re headed in the right direction we may stay the course and keep moving ahead with confidence. However, if the road is very hard and there are obstacles in front of us we may doubt our ability to press on. We might wonder if we’ve lost our way, if we need a better map or someone to help us, or if we’ll ever get to the destination. There are so many things that can happen to cloud our view forward and it takes determination to keep walking. We have everything we need to be successful and we know where we want to go. If we persevere, no matter what we face, we can continue. Confusion may come but we can find the answers we need. We can confidently take one step after another, even when it’s hard to see, and reach any destination we choose.

Our journey through life is long, and we will pass many stops along the way before we reach the end. Some are unexpected but each place offers us something to carry with us going forward. We may go somewhere foreign and feel uncomfortable and eager to leave but as we navigate the path we learn different ideas that will enrich us. Sometimes we reach a place that feels like home where we are happy and feel accepted, and as we move forward they buoy us up and give us confidence. We learn something new with everything we experience, and as we travel forward we change and develop a new and richer understanding of our lives and who we are. Each experience changes us in some way and we learn more about ourselves and who we really want to be.

Sometimes the way forward is easy and we move ahead with little resistance. Things go well and all the doors seem to open for us. But life is unpredictable and can be perilous. Everything changes continually and no matter where we are now, our circumstances will change. We will meet different people, experience new challenges, and learn to cope with everything we face. We’ll learn to manage all the bumps, complications, and disappointments as we travel and we’ll become stronger and truer to ourselves. Each day teaches us something we need to be successful. Learning every lesson well helps us find our way.

Today if your journey is thwarted with complication and problems, if you feel tired having to face yet another challenge, keep moving forward. There are rewards and blessings waiting for you. Each trial gives you a gift and each challenge teaches you something you need. You know where you want to go and you can persevere and find success. You are strong and capable of managing anything. Keep going forward. You have everything you need to succeed.

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Jigsaw Puzzle

30 Nov

Most of us have worked on a jigsaw puzzle. It’s fun to dump the pieces out on a big surface and start sorting them. The fewer the pieces the easier the puzzle is to complete. Complicated puzzles with hundreds of pieces take longer and instead of putting them all together at once may take days or weeks to complete. They all differ but they are simply pictures cut up waiting for us to bring them together again. Sometimes our lives feel like jigsaw puzzles. The paths we’ve been on may get cut up, the things we had together may get separated, and we may have to put things back together again piece by piece. When the pieces are jumbled up and upside down it’s hard to figure them out but one by one we can turn them over and decide where to put them. We just need time to find the all the pieces and build the picture.

Life rarely goes the way we think it will. There are a lot of variables in everything. Things move and reshape constantly. As we adjust to each modification we may need to change our direction. The goal may stay the same but the road to it may move a little here and there. When we plot a graph, we make clear, straight lines between the defined locations. It looks nice and it’s easy to understand. Unfortunately, life doesn’t exist on graph paper. It’s more like abstract art. A bit of yellow paint here, a streak of red there, some blue thrown in at random and white space in between we have yet to paint. There’s a lot going on and the more we look at it, the more we see. It’s complicated and can be confusing. But we have the power of discernment and can figure out even the most complex of pictures. Like a jigsaw puzzle we can begin to put it all together and find our way.

If we lived in a vacuum we could make our decisions, plot a course forward and be done. We could be in control of everything. There would be no problems or complications, and other people would never be able to interfere with their opinions and decisions. But there will always be others involved in almost everything we do, there will be issues that gum up the works, and unexpected developments will invariably get in the way. As we go, we learn a lot by working through each situation that arrives, find solutions to the problems we encounter and cope with all the personalities around us. Unlike a jigsaw puzzle where we simply put the pieces together in their pre-determined places to create the picture, we have the opportunity to see all the sides of each piece and determine how best to use it. The goals we set determine the pictures we make. We can live our lives any way we want to and accomplish any goal we set. We just need to decide how all the pieces will come together.

Today if you feel like your life is a puzzle torn apart and disconnected you can begin to put things together. Decide where you want to go and what you want to do. Then choose each piece one by one that will take you there. You already have the picture in your mind. You can put it all together and begin moving forward. There isn’t anything you can’t accomplish and you will be successful. Take it one piece at a time and before you know it your life will be the picture you want to create. Success is waiting for you.

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What Is

22 Nov

Sometimes we want things in our lives to be different than they are. Maybe we aren’t happy in a relationship, maybe we don’t like our jobs, maybe we wish we looked differently, or want a change that has eluded us. There are times when the life we’re living may not be who we really are or where we really want to be. We may wish things were different, we may dream about the situation changing and we may hope our lives will shift to something closer to what we want. We can work toward changing anything we want and modify our lives in ways that make us happier. But until we make the changes needed, we are where we are. Learning to live with what is real right now can help us understand and plan for changes to get us where we want to be. Sometimes when we’re unhappy we may look the other way and pretend things are different than they are. We may ignore the situation and just keep plowing through a life that doesn’t fulfill us. But ignoring a situation never changes it and we deserve to be happy. We can find true happiness by facing our lives as they are, seeing what is right now, and then making a plan to correct our course to get the lives we really want.

Some people have trouble living in the present. They constantly talk about the past and live through their memories or dream about a future that is different than what they’re living. Memories are great and we learn a lot from the lessons of the past but that is behind us and cannot be re-lived. It’s over and although we may revisit it, if we let it control our present it may paralyze us and keep us from moving forward. Dreaming of our future may help us formulate plans to make it a reality but we must do more than dream. Continually thinking about how things could be takes us away from what they are. What is now is what we’re living. If we want to change, we can but simply dreaming about it will do nothing but freeze us in place. If we can openly see and accept where we are we can then decide where we want to go and begin moving forward.

It can be hard to accept difficult changes that come to us. If someone we love leaves us or betrays us, if we get hurt and can no longer use our body the way we have before, or some other severe challenge enters our lives we may find it hard to move forward. We may wish we could go back in time and change things. It may be hard to cope with our new reality and live with our lives as they are. But whether we cope with them and accept them or live in denial, what is real is what we’re living. When we see things as they truly are, we can begin to move forward. Accepting truth opens the doors to understanding and understanding helps us find ways forward to happiness. We can be happy no matter what life gives us. We know what we want and with determination can find our way to any destination we desire.

Today if you’ve been looking the other way and refusing to face a situation in your life that is uncomfortable, remember you deserve to be completely happy. There isn’t anything too difficult or complex for you to face. See everything as it is and make a plan to move forward. You have so much light to offer. Let it shine on you today.

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Cracks

17 Nov

Cracks

“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” Leonard Cohen

It seems our lives would be wonderful if everything went the way we wanted it to. It would be so much easier if there were no complications and things always worked out in our favor. When our lives are difficult and there is a lot of static, lots of things going awry and we’re busy trying to sort it all out, we might wish things were different. We understand that nothing is perfect and we cope with problems and obstacles in our way as they come up. We are capable of managing any complication we face but sometimes we wish it was easier. It’s the nature of life to be imperfect. Very few natural things are flawless and there are cracks everywhere. But the cracks aren’t just imperfections, they are also openings that let light shine through. That light can bring us new ideas, show us new roads, or unveil new destinations for us going forward. When we’re stressed and something goes wrong, often we find information that helps us going forward. We gain strength from the conflict, patience from the endurance, and sometimes find new direction in the experience. Cracks in the plan sometimes open up new horizons and take us places we never dreamed of.

Wood grain can be very beautiful. There are many kinds of woods, many colors and hues, many different types of grain and when they are cut and polished they all have a unique beauty. There are imperfect knots in wood which are formed when branches drop off as the trunk of the tree expands and the grain grows around the remaining base of the branch. Knots are usually considered defects and are generally harder than the surrounding grain which can make sawing difficult. But although they are imperfections, they are quite beautiful and add a lot to the finished product. If the wood were completely flawless with all the grain lines running perfectly straight it would be boring. The knots add interest, beauty and character to the wood. Yes, they are imperfect but that imperfection is what makes them so lovely.

Nobody wants a life filled with problems. We all want things to go well and be able to move forward without a lot of drama. Sometimes that happens but most of the time we have to adjust to one thing or another in order to progress. If we can see the complications as opportunities to learn something new and chances to expand our understanding, we will navigate them more easily. There may be cracks in the armor as we go forward but they will open up new ideas that help us continue. There may be knots in the wood as we try to make something happen, but if we polish them and see how they shine we can find new ways to get to the destination. If we can see beauty in the confusion, and possibilities in the problems, we’ll conquer whatever we must face.

Today if you’re in a situation with a lot of complications and feel overwhelmed, look at the possibilities before you. Each difficulty brings new ideas and opportunities to see things differently. Take a good look at everything. There is light shining through to show you the way. You will see it and find success.

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