PILLAR OF STRENGTH

With less than 5 weeks left of what can generally be classified as a tough year, 2014 has been a year where a great deal of things happened-both pleasant and unpleasant.  We lost the lives of many people we loved dearly; our colleagues suffered the loss of their jobs; our economy experienced slow growth while the political instability of many countries made headline news.  Whilst it's easy to fall in the pattern of feeling sorry for ourselves and focusing our energies only on the bad things; I look back and I realize that many of us have survived despite the negativity and hard aches of 2014.

I look at my own person life for reference and I acknowledge that always staying motivated and positive is generally a daunting task.  It becomes increasingly harder when plans are derailed, opportunities missed or deals cancelled.  More often than not, playing the victim seems more rewarding because then you get to blame other people for the things that are wrong in your life.  It is also easier to get sympathy from people who take stock of your pain, your anger and the reasons you feed them to justify why you are the victim. And yes, for a greater part of 2014, I played the victim too.

It seemed justifiable to play the victim because in more cases than not, someone played a role in derailing my plans. It seemed okay to feel sorry for myself when I didn't seal that deal because I convinced myself that I had given it my all, when in fact I hadn't.  I allowed myself to be depressed because I had no control over the situation (or at least I thought) and I was happy to share all the bad in my life with anyone willing to listen, forgetting the great things that were also happening in my life.

I was talking to a dear friend who also (strangely) was complaining about the bad in her life too. It was at this point that I realized that  in life we need pillars of strength that will help us get through the challenges of life ( let's face it, we cannot avoid them). And these pillars come in obvious and indirect ways.  Reading has always been a hobby I thoroughly enjoyed doing because it allowed me to reconnect and refocus. It opened up my world to different ideologies and perspectives that taught me many lessons. Catching up with motivated and positive friends also empowered me to work harder at my own goals.  These are things that I neglected to do during the year, sadly. And I believe they could have provided me with the strength to deal with my complications.

We often expect that to find strength, one must sacrifice something ;when we can find the strength in the things we love such as church, reading, talking to friends, traveling, or sports. The fact is we cannot avoid the unpleasant things in our lives nor control everything bad that happens to us. However we can learn to accept them and find pillars of strength that will pull us out of our dampened moods towards making our dreams a reality. I know for a fact that so many of us wanted to give up during the year because the pain and the disappointed seemed unbearable. I encourage you to stay strong and find your own pillar of strength. I encourage you to find that source of positive energy that will make the last 5 weeks of 2014 better. Stay strong and focus on a greater and better 2015.

Smile. Love. Live