Life keeps on sending us challenges … No matter how “well-adjusted” or “wise” or “functional” we become, we will all continue to experience situations that will be painful or frustrating, and we will do so for the rest of our lives. It’s the “nature of the beast” — it is the nature of living a conscious life — it is the nature of being human.

And yet, even though we cannot hope to attain a …life that is constantly and permanently pleasant, we CAN choose to accept the “hard times” with grace when they come … we CAN choose to use our difficulties as sources of empowerment … we CAN choose to Love (& thereby be Happy) anyway.

Indeed, every time something “bad” happens to us, there is an alternative available to all conscious beings — an alternative to bemoaning our “bad luck” or railing against that “injustice” or striving to fix that “unfairness”.

In some of those moments, there is nothing we can actively do about the problem that caused our pain. And yet, even in such “helpless” times, we can pause for one second and choose to be thankful anyway — we can choose to be thankful that we are alive at all. And this is the mental “WD-40” that allows us to slide back into being Joy-full again.

There are also moments when our dis-ease comes from another person. In those times, there IS something we can actively do to alleviate our own suffering. We can pause for one second and choose to do something Kind for that person. And this is the “duct tape” that reconnects us; that mends that discord; that eventually turns enemies into friends — forcing the other to choose between being Kind in return or leaving us in Peace.

WD-40 & Duct-tape … They really are the answer for every problem.

Filed under: Wisdoms from the Journey by Scaughdt