It seems that today, everyone is worried about something. At the top of the list is, of course, the economy and how much money has been “lost” (real or on paper). Worrying about this or wasting a whole day to “weeping and gnashing of teeth” will not change things. It is simply a waste of time and energy. Put your time into coming up with a plan to respond to whatever adversity has come your way. The solutions may be dramatic. The solutions may completely alter the plan you envisioned for the rest of your life. In the end, you might find that it wasn’t such a great plan anyway. Often the “best of times” are waiting after changing course to respond to adversity.
Your attitude has everything to do with how well you will survive whatever is challenging you. Charles Dickens wrote back in 1859:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…….”
What will you choose: light or darkness, hope or despair, everything or nothing?
The Dalai Lama tells us in his book, Ethics for the new Millennium, if we can reorient our thoughts and emotions and reorder our behavior, not only can we learn to cope with suffering more easily, but we can prevent a great deal of it from arising in the first place. He says “we cannot always change our external situation to suit us, but we can change our attitude”.
So how can you make the mental shift outside of the usual advice “get enough rest, eat well, exercise, don’t drink too much, stop smoking etc. “? Here are some thoughts that may help you to stay positive as you face your challenges:
-Look around and see what is right with the world.
-Be as present in the moment as you can be.
-Don’t dwell on what you can’t change.
-Listen to upbeat music.
-Sit down and write 10 positive statements about your life.
-Meditate and pray often.
-Forgive.
-Change the scale. If you are 55 living with regret over things you did or did not do with your life, fast-forward and imagine yourself at 80 wishing for another 25 years of opportunity!