Battling Through A Short-Term Injury or Illness

I don't handle being ill very well. I am , literally, the type of person who gets angry when they get sick because it slows me down more than necessary. Suddenly, it's harder to get out of bed, more difficult to get the simplest of tasks done, and—most importantly—it's tough to find the energy to exercise.

You know how they say, sometimes, it's just "mind over matter"? Well, where being ill is concerned, my mind doesn't matter one bit. Anything that slows down your physical being will force you to take a different approach to how you handle any plans you might have had on the docket for that day.

So, how do you handle such small, inconvenient, setbacks? Well, the first thing you must do is see such times as an opportunity to rest your mind and body.

Your body can be as well-oiled a machine as you want it to be, but if it's suffering the effects of a cold or some other common challenge of the physical kind, then take that as a sure sign that you need a minute to re-energize yourself—and sometimes getting sick is the only way most of us will do so.

Secondly, us the time to engage in meditation or some other form of spiritual enhancement because your mind is every bit as important as your body.

Lastly, understand the value of such challenges as they pertain to your overall self-improvement goals. I find that I am more motivated after recovering from a cold or an injury because I feel more refreshed and renewed from all the rest and relaxation time I was granted.

So, the next time those allergies are kicking your rear, or that flu bug makes its home on your front door, consider it a good thing (okay, well maybe not a good thing, but you get my meaning) and take it as your opportunity to fine-tune the other sentient parts of you and get them back on track. 

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REPOST: Take This Life and Live It

Sometimes it's hard to imagine a time when your life will no longer be relevant, however, two things that are quite certain about this life is that it has a beginning and an end.

The people we meet, the relationships we build with those people along the way, and the choices we make within the time we have here are what will help to shape our experience.

We will become a collection of the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of life, and the only thing any of us can ever hope for is the opportunity to live the best life possible—to be happy.

Despite what anyone might tell you, there isn't a prescription for happiness. Each individual will approach his/her life differently and therefore will find happiness in a much different way they you or I. Where one person might choose to fill their life with friendships and personal connections, another might find the same fulfillment in discovering all they can about the world—cherishing the discovery process.

In truth, the "how" doesn't matter. What matters is that you take the journey.

Our time upon this earth is undetermined and no one can be certain when the time to leave this life will come.

Treat each day as a blessing, collect each moment as if it were a ray of sunshine, and use those rays to illuminate the spirit within you, and never let that spirit be dimmed by any one or anything.

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Finding Balance Without Losing Your Center

Here's a true fact about me: I am typically all the way to one side or the other where serious matters are concerned. I can find the so-called grey area, but I don't often subscribe to it because I feel that to be a woman of conviction, you actually need to have convictions.

That said, the inherent danger in never allowing yourself to see the other side, or at least empathize with the person from whom it's coming, is you might find it difficult to later feel the compassion your heart needs to make the necessary connections to causes outside of your own.

I struggle daily with my ability to see the other side of the coin because I have made it my personal goal to be strong in my beliefs and not allow the outside world to twist or manipulate those ideals in any way. However, by that same token, I also know that I should not allow my beliefs to be so pervasive that I fail to understand the beliefs of  others. I know the golden rule of life—or at least as it pertains to my life—'as easily as that can be one person's plight, it could be mine also'.

Keeping the latter in mind, I treat everyone with the same level of respect that I would want for myself. It's only fair. We don't have to agree to have an intelligent conversation, we just need to understand that we each come to the table with our own theory of what's best.

To live life in the middle can be a good thing, but don't go overboard. Have convictions of your own and remain open to the discussions of those who hold the opposite point of view. Your life has to be about something more than just nodding your head in agreement with every new idea you are given. Find your truth and let it guide your life.

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'Perseverance' Is Not A Dirty Word

Most of us give up too easily. We hit a little wall, suffer through a bit too much resistance, and we throw our hands up and say—to heck with this—I'm done. Well, what if you decided not to do that? What if you took your lumps, let whatever it was hit you with it's best shot, and said, "is that the best you can do? Is that all you've got?...seriously, well, you're gonna have to do better than that!"

I'm no oracle, but I'm willing to place a large bet that you would find yourself in a much more favorable position than you might otherwise be had you instead decided to give up.

The human spirit is one that is begging to be tested. You are built to be much stronger than you're likely allowing yourself to become, yet you spend the better part of your existence watching, exasperated, from the sidelines as life and opportunities pass you by. Even more, you look at the person you perceive to be a 'go-getter' and are colored greener than green with envy and admiration for their having done all the things you've already told yourself you cannot do.

Why torture yourself? This life is meant to be lived with purpose. You cannot let your life live you, you have to live your life, and that cannot be done if you aren't willing to get bruised and battered a bit along the way.

Perseverance in tough times builds character for the long haul and that makes for a life filled with experiences—both good and bad—that helps bring you into the person you most hope to be by the time you reach your fullest potential.

So, stop building roadblocks with your own hands. Allow yourself the opportunity—dare I say, the privilege—to be knocked down, to fail, to be defeated because it is only then that you will know the sweetness of life's blessings.

Just keep living, learning, and persevering to the end.

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