Don't give in to stress
All my life I have watched women move about their lives. Some move about smoothly making it all look so easy; while some of us insist on doing everything the hard way. I believe life should be easy. Yes we all know there will be bumps and knocks along the way. Let’s be serious, we can expect to be knocked down and out at some point. If that is the case, what’s a girl to do? We can cry, feel sorry for ourselves, be scared but then we must get back up and fight. Or strategize our way out of the situation.
I have a small army of friends who have faced major challenges in their lives. Every time I get scared I think of them. When I look at their challenges, I am in awe of the human spirit. What gives them the strength to go on? I noticed a few things about them. They found a supportive group to surround themselves with – mostly family. They stayed open and took opportunities when they had the chance to. Some people stay paralyzed with fear. No matter how the universe tries to help they stay on their emotionally sinking raft. Sometimes we can see them yelling for help. Help did not come in the ways they expected so they wait for the “perfect and safe opportunity.” I know some people like that. When they feel someone gets a “lucky break” I can hear them say so and so is very lucky. They don’t realize that it’s not luck but faith and trust in the universe that helps them with their challenges.
I have a friend who had little to no guidance growing up. She faced many challenges alone. One day her great aunt moved into her house. She got to know this woman who was a pillar of strength. She turned her ear and heart to the lady who taught her about God, love, and being easy on herself. My friend immediately started praying and asking God for strength and guidance and eventually she started to build her faith muscle. She created a path for herself, moved towards it, and found a great husband and moved to a new city. Yes happily ever after. I know another lady who was beaten as a child. She vowed to have a family of her own. Finally she married, had a daughter, and bought a house. Everything was great for a while. Soon her marriage ended in divorce. She was devastated. She has a beautiful house, a great daughter and two very marketable talents. But all she can do is complain about not having a husband and leaving her career to become a mother. She still has her beautiful house. She can still find a husband later on and she can rebuild her career if she wanted to. But she would rather complain then move on. She can’t see the beauty she already created in her life. She has so much to be thankful for. I guarantee when she gets old she will look back and realize the beauty but will not be in a position to enjoy it.
There are so many people facing real challenges ever day. Think of the people living in war torn countries. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be diagnosed with a terminal disease or having a child with a fatal diagnosis. Poverty around the world is a horrible condition. Millions of people wake up to it every day. Interestingly enough, you don’t have to go far to hear horror stories of what people face every day. We can read the papers of people in our communities who are facing awful challenges. Not to mention neighbors who are suffering and we don’t even know about their problems.
Life is not always easy but through it all we must find a way to be kind to ourselves and make it easy for ourselves. We have to stop complaining and look around to see what we can do to make life better for ourselves. Expect good things. Trust God or the Universe. Take time to say something nice to a stranger and say nice things to yourselves. This will help to create good karma in our lives. Happiness is contagious. God wants us to be happy. We honor him when we are happy. When we feel good and expect good things we teach our children to expect good things.