Just yesterday;

Just yesterday, an acquaintance of ours turned a bitter attitude toward us. How can we be so peace loving and always looking toward a better tomorrow, when the world seems to be going up in flames? How can we tell everyone to focus on themselves, when their environment is demanding so much time from them? How can we continue to talk about love and peace and growth, when all around us is burning down? Don’t we know the state of the world? Don’t we know that unemployment is skyrocketing, and people aren’t going to be able to feed their families? Don’t we know that our government is out of control and will destroy us all?

Now, it would have been very easy to think of this person as a negative, someone who feeds off of their own misfortunes; someone who isn’t interested in growth at all, but is destructive to themselves and their environment. In fact, it was really tempting. But, we took some time and continued our conversation, and found they were being hit with a great deal of stress and circumstances. With a little bit of prompting, the bitterness began to turn to understanding, and the angst lessened. Positive seeks positive, negative feeds on negative.

We didn’t offer a quick solution, we didn’t take their problems away. But we did give them a better mindset to deal with their situations, and a better belief in themselves and their abilities to overcome the obstacles in their life.

Sometimes you need to rebalance and focus, so you can determine what is most important to YOU. We used to be wrapped up in what our friends had, and wanted the same or better for ourselves. But those objects never satisfied, there was always bigger and better. And bigger and better cost more and more money. So we had to work harder and harder. And there was always something just out of reach that we just had to have. The turning point for us came when the economy turned and were faced with layoffs. We had to decide what was important, and in doing so, we cut out a lot of the unnecessary expenses in our lives. We also started spending more time working on our personal relationship with each other. And the most amazing thing happened! We became happier.

When we form our own expectations in our lives, we see our goals attainable. We don’t need a new car if ours is dependable and running fine. We don’t need a brand new big screen television if our regular television still works. We don’t need to work overtime and stress ourselves out to earn enough money to take a vacation to distress and relax. We’ve left the daily grind, and take each new day as an adventure. Of course, we have our responsibilities and commitments, and maintain them. But we are more at peace with what we are and do.

Re-evaluate your goals, be happy with your level of success, don’t let others decide your happiness for you.

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Keeping the faith

In these difficult economic times, I have watched as numerous businesses closed their doors in the local community. More and more people, including myself, delay or give up their dreams and aspirations. Several of our own projects have been shuffled further down the priority list, or put on hold, awaiting a better fiscal climate. Most entrepreneurs are working harder with fewer resources while scaling back their future expectations for growth and expansion.

It can be hard to have faith in your efforts when the results fail to meet hopes or expectations. When the struggle to succeed begins to feel like a never ending battle, self esteem can often be the casualty. Difficult times and experiences can compel even the strongest to question their faith in themselves.

The human spirit can be amazing at overcoming obstacles when fueled by creativity, passion, desire and ingenuity. Have faith in yourself and continue to follow your dreams. Every day brings a new opportunity and chance to succeed. The progress struggled for today may become the foundation a person builds on the tomorrow. Continue to dream and be flexible to the possibilities that exist in the future.


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