CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK AND YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR FUTURE!

 A friend of mine is experiencing challenges in discipline and not able to motivate herself to get to work. She is self employed. She was saying that if I am this lazy, I may have to take a job as I may not survive. This conversation with her got me thinking. Is job going to solve her problem? Is self employment or business her solution? Upon reflecting more deeply, I realize that the answer to this confusion is neither job nor business. In fact, it goes to the very core of our existence.

So, what exactly are we thinking when we are trying to survive? Our situations in life are temporary. You are a bachelor today; tomorrow, you are a husband. You are working today for someone; tomorrow someone else may work for you. Today, you are an athlete in all your glory, but after a few years, you may not be able to walk. When we are trying to survive in life, are we looking to achieve a permanent position with whatever we are doing? If you are no longer in that position, are you a failure? Even if you are very successful in that position, you will not be there for long. You may move to a different position. Does that mean you did not survive? Is survival the measure of success?

In contrast, our existence is permanent. Whether you live in United States or Japan, you will exist. Whether you are poor or rich, you will exist. Whether you are white or black, you will exist. Whether you are man or woman, you will exist. You will exist no matter what! Knowing this difference in survival versus existence, we can start looking at things in a different perspective.

What does it mean when we are facing challenges in life? What is the purpose of that challenge? What is the meaning of the struggle? Every situation that we are placed in, is exactly the situation we need for our future. Every challenge that we face is a uniquely designed challenge for our growth. As a child, parents let go of your hand so you can learn to walk on your own. It is a challenge carefully designed for your progress. The purpose of every single challenge is to provide us an opportunity to grow from our current weaker self to a future stronger self. Think of it as the life’s gym to strengthen yourself. When you go to the gym, do you go crying or are you excited to go work out so you can become stronger? So, why is it that when we are faced with the same situation in life to strengthen ourselves, we get depressed with the challenges we have? Can we be excited to work out for our future? Life is full of exciting opportunities to become stronger. The stronger you are, the more fun life becomes, the better leader you can be and the better service you can provide.

Can we stop thinking about survival and start thinking about our chance to become stronger? Sometimes, we choose our situations in life; sometimes life puts us in certain situations. In either case, It is not about the situation you are in, it is about the opportunity that it provides. Remember, no matter what situation you are in, the choice to fight is ours. If we fight, we can become stronger and our future is more exciting. If we don’t, we may dwell in our pain and victimize ourselves. The choice is ours to make. No one can fight the fight for us. These challenges don’t happen to us, they happen for us. How wonderful it is that the magnificent, all glorious divine is giving me, the insignificant, infinitesimal living entity this much attention to create a unique challenge for me, put me in a carefully designed situation so that I can become stronger? How lucky am I? That should be exciting and not depressing. Change the way you think and you can change your future!