By Blue Rose on Thursday, 27 of August , 2009 at 3:34 pm
It’s not the situation that causes stress, but the person’s perception of the situation. Listen, there’s not one universal stressor. A traumatizing experience for you may be taken as a challenge by the person next to you. Faith in God in your own strengths and in other people’s goodness is crucial. But here are three more essential factors that will help you discover how well you can survive your new, less golden life.
1. Foundation while growing up – ask you’re self: “What kind of upbringing did I have? Did my parents impart good values? Did they teach me how to be strong in times of trial? And to always have a positive outlook in life?”
How you were brought up is a big factor in determining how capable you are of handling problems that come your way. If you were a spoiled rotten as kid who learned no values whatsoever, dealing with your penniless state will be very difficult. However, if you were brought up with a balanced set of values, then it’s up to you to put everything you’ve learned from your folks into practice.
Andrew’s mom was capricious, overly indulgent, and knew nothing about child discipline. When she died, Andrew expected his relatives to cater to his whims and serve him, just as his mother did. His foundation of values was almost non-existent, which made his new poverty unbearable both for Andrew and the people around him.
2. Support system in place – ask you’re self: “How will my new financial status affect my relationships and my social life? Will my rich friends still be there for me? Or will I have to replace them with a new set of friends? Will my boyfriend stay with me even if I have no more money? Will my relatives treat me the way they did when I was rich?”
Family and friends who can and will support you in this time of need are essential. Some people who found themselves in dire situations were able to start a new because of another person’s pr presence and assistance. This is also the best time to discover who your true friends are. Your changed status may break old bonds, but there will always be other, more durable relationships to take their place.
Stephanie’s relatives stopped coming to their place after her family’s financial downfall. They could no longer host lavish get-togethers. She can only able to share her story to her true friends.
3. Your own personality – ask you’re self: “Am I tough or sensitive? An optimist or a pessimist? Self-reliant or dependent? Proud or humble?”
Research proves that it takes six months after a new situation transpires to determine how a person will deal with changes in his life. It was discovered that optimists who became paraplegics eventually regained their positive outlook in life. Before, they were “happy people.” Today, they are “happy people in wheelchairs.” Pessimists who won the lottery were “poor money-pinching worriers” before. Now, they are “rich money-pinching worriers.”
Your outlook in life is based on how you interpret the world before the changes occurred. If you’ve got a positive view in life, then you’re all good! If not, it’s time to change your attitude. If you choose to change your negative behavior, people will response can alter your negative thoughts, and eventually bring about new positive situations.
By The Dreamer on Saturday, 8 of August , 2009 at 4:26 pm
Wait!? This word really keeps ringing on my ear since I observed that I’m getting in a hurry on some of my plans. But before I delve in deeply, have we ever asked ourselves where on earth this word “wait” comes from? From the worldly point of view, this means remaining or resting in expectation of something. All of us have been waiting for something to happen in our lives even to the extent of being aggravated which sometimes make us stop on every thing we do. Like in my case, I’m getting too excited of what lies ahead of my life until I get to the point of forgetting some of the simplest things life has offered. Every night, before I close my eyes to get a very deep sleep after a long day’s work, I talk to the Lord and ask Him whether some of the plans I set will be realized. I even find myself funny whenever I imagine all my plans as if I’m watching a movie but in this case, I’m the sole actor. We kept on asking God why we are in these situations where we are expected to wait on something to come.
Yes, we all have numerous plans set by days, weeks, months or even years. Even others could be in short or long term plans. In my case, after I finished my BS degree here in the Philippines, the question
I have in my mind is, Where do I go from here? What will happen to my life if I choose to be with this or that? What happens if I take this step or the other way around? There are too many questions that we seek for answers. There are many roads that we need to take in life, but others may be twisted while some are straight as a stick. With this sort-of-confusion ringing in my head, whether to wait or go ahead of God’s plan, I found out that we just need to imbibe in our own minds and hearts these concepts.
Remember, life is an even keel. All of us are perfectly created by God. Our eyes, ears, hands, feet and other body parts are placed in their perfect spots. The number of senses and even the intricacy of our entire human body system have its own raison d’être. I remember the explanation of my teacher about the reason why humans have one pair of ears and only one mouth. He emphasized that we need to have this number of senses for a person needs to listen twice as much as he speaks. So better not pray to have two mouths and one ear because time will come gossips and lies will proliferate not just once but twice. Just wait because life is like a balanced weighing scale. We are the only ones outweighing it. Let’s just keep this equilibrium in state whatever happens.
Don’t run ahead of God’s plan. Yes, it’s normal that we sometimes run ahead of time. In this fast paced world of ours, feeble people are well disregarded. We beat deadlines and plan out things in advance. Human as we are, we always do these stuffs. We even put a schedule on the simplest things we do daily. You bathe, eat, and prepare things as fast as you can even to the extent of forgetting that you haven’t worn your underpants. But wait guys! Have we tried halting and pausing for a while and contemplate on the significant things that we did? Are all these things and plans we have are in accordance to our God’s plan? Sometimes, I seek deep silence for a while after being busy with so many things. Sometimes, I reflect whether I’m not losing out of my plans as well as His plans for me.
Then, answers just come along the way barely discernible.
Live life to the fullest. We can never turn back time so let’s make it possible to really live life to the fullest. We should keep our loved ones on our side and value the people around us. Let’s not be always in a hurry coz we tend to forget the more significant ones. Sometimes, it is us who creates not just a gap but a chasm between relationships with other people who are so important within our own lives.
Waiting on what lies ahead is so tedious but we should not forget that every second offers tranquility and peace of mind, every thing that happens reminds us to just be patient because there is a greater glory ahead of us and it pays to wait since He knows we are waiting. He sympathizes, for He himself had a very long suffering and patience towards His people. Human as we are, we tend to disregard this reason, but it is on the latter part when we come to realize the importance of this concept, “waiting”.
Life is great! Because after I occupied my mind with much life’s worries, destiny offered me blessings worth to be shared and new people meant to be loved. Sooner, my mother will give birth to the third child of our family, and this goes to show that I’ll be having a new person meant to be kept and loved.
With regards to my career, I was tasked to do something I really loved to. This is something that is within my inclination. With this, I get to deal and listen to some ordinary people sharing their simple yet fascinating stories in life.
Indeed, sometimes all of us just need to wait. For I thought back and think that life is an even keel and everything is on God’s control especially if we get to live our life to the fullest.
